A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

The Targum is an indispensable source of understanding the Bible. Started by Ezra for those returning Jews from Babylon and for these returnees they could only understand the Sacred Text in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to us from the verses quoted. And in Isaiah 42:1 the Targum identifies “my servant” as “the Messiah.”

Isaiah 41

¹ “Keep silence before Me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength; let them come near, then let them speak; let us come near together to judgement. — O islands; this word properly means islands and is so translated here by the Septuagint and the Syriac. But the word also is used to denote maritime countries; Countries that were situated on seacoasts or the regions beyond sea.

² “Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to His foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.— who raised up the righteous man from the east; the Targum interprets this of Abraham, and so the Talmud; he was a righteous man, was raised up out of an idolatrous family from Ur of the Chaldees, on the other side the river Euphrates, which lay east of Judea.

³ He pursued them, and passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

⁴ Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.” — Can any heathen god raise up one in righteousness, make what use of him he pleases and make him victorious over the nations? The Lord did so with Abraham; and more so he would do so with Cyrus, anointing him as king even before he was born.

⁵ The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. — the isles saw it; the distant nations saw what was done in the conquests of the man whom God in this remarkable manner had raised up; and they had had demonstration, therefore, of the mighty power of God above the power of idols;

— and feared; were alarmed, and trembled. All were apprehensive that they would be subdued, and driven away as with the tempest.

⁶ They helped every one his neighbor, and every one said to his brother, “Be of good courage.” — they helped everyone his neighbor; the idea is that these idolatrous nations formed confederations to strengthen each other, and to oppose him whom God had raised up to subdue them;

— the prophet Isaiah describes a state of general consternation existing among them when they supposed that all was in danger and that their security consisted only in confederation; in increased attention to their religion; in repairing their idols and making new ones and in conciliating the favor and securing the aid of their gods.

⁷ So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying, “It is ready for the soldering”; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. — the carpenter, who brought wood to compose the body of the idol;

— the goldsmith who was to prepare golden plates for covering and adorning of the image which some of them beat out upon the anvil and others smoothed or polished as it is ready for the soldering; that we may put the several parts together and set it up to be worshipped. He fastened it to the wall or pillar, lest it should fall down, or be carried away from them.

⁸ “But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend. — but thou Israel art my servant; thus the Gentiles show themselves to be the servants of their idols and own them for their gods: but Jacob art my people and I am and will be thy God.

⁹ Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, ‘Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee and not cast thee away’— Abraham, the father of the Jews, taken from the remote Ur of the Chaldees. Others take it of Israel, called out of Egypt.

¹⁰ fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. — fear thou not; this promise is plain in its meaning and is full of consolation;

— it is to be regarded as addressed primarily to the exiled Jews during their long and painful captivity in Babylon; and the idea is that they who had been selected by God to be his special people had nothing to fear.

¹¹ Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. — all they that were incensed against thee; they who were enraged against thee, that is, the Chaldeans or other enemies who made war upon you and reduced you to bondage, shall be ashamed and confounded.

¹² Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. — thou shalt seek them; this denotes that it would be impossible to find them for they should cease to exist. The whole verse is emphatic, repeating in varied terms what was said before and meaning that their foes should be entirely destroyed.

¹³ For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, ‘Fear not; I will help thee.’

¹⁴ “Fear not, thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel; I will help thee,” saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. — fear not, thou worm Jacob; the servant of the Almighty is reminded that he has no strength of his own but is “as a worm, and no man” (Psalm 22:6);

— Jacob had not been chosen because he was a great and mighty nation for Israel was “the fewest of all people” (Deuteronomy 7:7). As if to emphasise this the prophet speaks of God-given strength.

¹⁵ “Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. — behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth;

— the Septuagint renders it “as the new threshing wheels of a cart in the manner of saws” for corn was threshed out by drawing a cart with wheels over it, which wheels were stuck with teeth or spikes of iron; or by a cart or sledge filled with stones to press it down, and at the bottom with iron teeth, which being drawn to and fro by oxen over the sheaves, separated the grain from the husk.

¹⁶ Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. — to fan means to winnow, an operation which was performed by throwing the threshed grain up with a shovel into the air so that the wind drove the chaff away. So all their enemies, and all the obstacles which were in their way should be scattered.

¹⁷ “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. — the poor and needy; the promise may perhaps take as its starting-point the succour given to the return of the exiles, but it rises rapidly into the region of a higher poetry, in which earthly things are the parables of heavenly and does not call for a literal fulfilment any more than “wines of the lees.”

¹⁸ I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. — I will open rivers; the words have all the emphasis of varied iteration. Every shape of the physical contour of the country, bare hills, arid steppes and the like, is to be transformed into a new beauty by water in the form adapted to each: streamlets, rivers, lakes and springs.

¹⁹ I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, and the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine and the box tree together, — I will plant in the wilderness; a picture as of the Paradise of God (Isaiah 51:3), with its groves of stately trees, completes the vision of the future.

²⁰ that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

²¹ “Produce your cause,” saith the Lord; “bring forth your strong reasons,” saith the King of Jacob. — bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob; the true Israel of God, who acknowledge the Lord as their King and their God and whom he rules over, protects and defends;

— and this title is assumed for the comfort of them, that though he is King over all the nations of the world, yet in an eminent and peculiar sense their King; and he does not style himself the God of Jacob.

²² “Let them bring them forth and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them and know the latter end of them; or declare us things to come. — God claims that the power of predicting the future is his own inalienable prerogative; let them show us what will happen;

— He defies the idol-gods and their votaries to give any clear prediction of future events; no doubt the claim to possess the power was made very generally among the idolatrous nations who almost universally practised based upon frauds and cunning deceits.

²³ Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and behold it together. — that we may know that ye are gods; the prediction of future events is the highest evidence of omniscience and divinity; and it would prove that they were worthy of adoration; and it is demanded, that if they were gods they should be able to make such a prediction as would demonstrate that they were invested with a divine nature.

²⁴ Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. — behold, ye are of nothing, or ‘Worse than nothing.’ This refers to idols; and the idea is that they were utterly vain and powerless, unable to render aid to their worshippers as absolute nothingness would be and all their confidence in them was vain and foolish.

²⁵ “I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun shall he call upon My name. And he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. — I have raised up one, that is, Cyrus; in the previous verses God had shown that the idols had no power of predicting future events;

— He stakes, so to speak, the question of his divinity on that point and the whole controversy between him and them is to be decided by the inquiry whether they had the power of foretelling what would come to pass, power to foretell future events. In this he appeals to the fact that he had raised up Cyrus in accordance with his predictions and in such a way that it would be distinctly seen that he had this power of foretelling future events.

²⁶ Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And beforetime, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’? Yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. — who hath declared from the beginning; the meaning of this passage is ‘there is no one among the soothsayers and the worshippers of idols who has predicted the birth, the character and the conquests of Cyrus.

²⁷ The first shall say to Zion, ‘Behold, behold them!’ And I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. — the first; I who am the first as I said before, Isaiah 41:4, and therefore capable of declaring or foretelling things to come from the beginning which your idols cannot do, Isaiah 41:26.

²⁸ For I beheld, and there was no man, even among them; and there was no counselor that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

²⁹ Behold, they are all vanity! Their works are nothing; their molten images are wind and confusion. — for I beheld and there was no man; that is, no one who had foretold the future. Yehovah, speaking through the prophet, looks round in vain for that.

Isaiah 42

¹ “Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, Mine Elect, in whom My soul delighteth: I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. — Behold my servant whom I uphold; the word ‘servant’ may be applied either to Isaiah, Cyrus, or the Messiah; and the question to whom it refers here is to be decided in the Targum, which says, “behold, my servant, the Messiah;”

— this is the King Messiah; nor of Cyrus, nor of the people of Israel but of Christ as it is applied, Matthew 12:17 who is spoken of under the character of a “servant” as he is; not as a divine Being for as such he is the Son of God; but as man and in his office as Mediator; a servant of the Lord but of his divine Father; who chose him, called and sent him and assigned him his work;

— which was principally the redemption of his people and which he diligently, faithfully and fully performed; in which he was “upheld” as man and Mediator by his Father, not only in his being as man but was strengthened and helped in his mediatorial service so that he did not sink under the mighty weight of the sins of his people or of the wrath of God:

— this prophecy is ushered in with a “behold” exciting attention to what is said concerning Christ as of the greatest importance; directing the eye of faith to him for righteousness and salvation; and as expressive of admiration at him that he who was the Son of God should become a servant and undertake the salvation of men;

— he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles; the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, whose judgement is according to truth; the rule of human judgement in things spiritual and saving and by which the Son of God judges and rules in the hearts of his people; this he brought forth out of his Father’s bosom, out of his own heart and published it in person to the Jews and by his apostles to the converted by it, became subject to his rule and government. Gentiles, who being converted by it, became subject to his rule and government.

— the Targum, which identifies “my servant” as “the Messiah” is an indispensable source of understanding the Bible. Started by Ezra for those returning Jews from Babylon and for these returnees they could only understand the Hebrew Text in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to us from the verses quoted.

² He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. — He shall not cry; either in a way of contention as anger is oft accompanied with clamour or in a way of ostentation. It seems to be meant both ways;

— He shall neither erect nor manage his kingdom with violence and outward pomp and state as Worldly princes do, but with meekness and humility; nor lift up his voice which is easily understood out of the following clause and from many other scriptures where that word is added to this verb to complete the phrase;

— nor cause his voice to be heard in the street; as contentious or in a menacing manner or like vain-glorious preachers frequently do.

³ A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench; He shall bring forth judgement unto truth. — bruised: “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him” (Isa 53:5,10); so He can feel for the bruised; reed—fragile: easily “shaken with the wind”

— and although he favours the weak yet will he not spare the wicked but will judge them according to truth and equity.

⁴ He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He hath set judgement in the earth; and the isles shall wait for His law.” — fail; faint; man in religion may become as the almost expiring flax-wick but not so He in His purposes of grace; discouraged; literally, “broken,” that is, checked in zeal by discouragements;

— isles … wait; the distant lands beyond sea shall put their trust in His gospel way of salvation; may refer to the fact that the populations of which the Church was primarily formed were Gentiles of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean.

⁵ Thus saith God the Lord—He that created the heavens and stretched them out, He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: — thus saith God the Lord; the God of the world, as the Targum says;

— this, with what follows is a preface to the call of the Messiah to the great work of redemption; setting forth the greatness of God as a Creator, that calls him to it and thereby encouraging him as man and Mediator in it as well as their Saviour and Redeemer.

⁶ “I, the Lord, have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; — for a light of the Gentiles; ‘light’ is the emblem of knowledge, instruction and of the true religion. The Messiah is often called ‘light,’ and the ‘light of the world.’

⁷ to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. — to open the blind eyes; this is equivalent to saying that he would impart instruction to those who were ignorant; it relates to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles; of the world which is often represented as one of darkness and blindness; He would acquaint them with God and with the way of salvation.

⁸ I am the Lord; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. — I am the Lord; Hebrew, Yehovah; who have all being in and of myself and give being to all my creatures. The everlasting, unchangeable and omnipotent God, who therefore both can and will fulfil all my promises;

— that is my name which I must own and justify to the world; will I not give; I will not allow it to ascribed to another; and my glory will I not give to another; that is to another god, to a strange god, to an idol; I will not allow another to assume or receive the honor which is due to me;

— God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; (more on this at the end)

⁹ “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” — behold, the former things are come to pass; that is the former things which he had foretold. He had by his prophets foretold events which had now been fulfilled and this should lead them to confide in him alone as the true God;

— and new things do I declare; things pertaining to future events relating to the stewardship of the Messiah and to the universal prevalence of his religious truth in the world.

¹⁰ Sing unto the Lord a new song and His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants thereof. — new song; such as has never before been sung, called for by a new manifestation of God’s omnipotence;

— to express which no hymn for former mercies would be appropriate. The new song shall be sung when the Lord shall reign in Jerusalem and all “nations shall flow unto it” (Isa 2:2; 26:1; Re 5:9; 14:3).

¹¹ Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit. Let the inhabitants of the rock sing; let them shout from the top of the mountains. — let the inhabitants of the rock sing; it is uncertain whether the word ‘rock’ here (Hebrew, סלע sela‛, Greek Πέτραν Petran, ‘Petra’ or ‘rock’) is to be regarded as a proper name or to denote in a general sense those who dwell in the rocky part of Arabia;

— Kedar was a son of Ishmael, the father of the Kedarenians or Cedrei; they often changed their place in the neighborhood of Petra, or Sela, as they were the names of the celebrated city that was the capital of Idumea; also the capital of the Nabatheans, and the connection here would rather lead us to suppose that this city was intended here, and that the inhabitants of the capital were called upon to join with the dwellers in the surrounding cities and villages in celebrating the omnipotence of God.

¹² Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands. — and declare his praise in the islands; as on the western continent and the isles of it; so on the eastern continent and the islands of it, the islands of Greece, the islands in the Aegean sea.

¹³ The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man; He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar; He shall prevail against His enemies. — our Lord the Almighty, Yehovah will no longer restrain His wrath: He will go forth as a mighty warrior (Ex 15:3) to destroy His people’s and His enemies and to deliver Israel and His elects.

¹⁴ “I have long time held My peace; I have been still and refrained Myself. Now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. — cry like a travailing woman who after having restrained her breathing for a time at last overcome with labor pain lets out her voice with a panting sigh; so Yehovah will give full vent to His long pent-up wrath; I will at once breathe hard and pant, namely, giving loose to My wrath.

¹⁵ I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. — I will make waste mountains and hills; not dry and barren ones for these were waste already but such as are clothed with grass and herbs as the following words imply; which is to be understood metaphorically of God’s destroying his most lofty and flourishing enemies who are oft compared in Scripture unto mountains and hills.

¹⁶ And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. — and I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; the Targum interprets this of the people of Israel, thus “I will lead the house of Israel which are like to the blind in a way which they knew not.”

¹⁷ They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, ‘Ye are our gods.’ — they shall be turned back; from their former course, from their idolatry and their idols and be converted and turn to the living God; and should fly to the rocks and mountains to hide and cover them from the wrath of God; for this phrase is used of the overthrow of enemies of their being obliged to turn their backs and flee.

¹⁸ “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. — as in verse 16, the Targum interprets this of the people of Israel, who are blind; and deaf here.

¹⁹ Who is blind, but My servant? Or deaf, as My messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant?” — Who is blind, but my servant? – these words continues to be spoken to both the house of Israel and the house of Judah; who are so blind and deaf as Israel is, the servant of the Lord, his messenger and an imperfect one as he is called.

²⁰ seeing many things, but thou observest not, opening the ears, but he heareth not.”

²¹ The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law and make it honorable. — He will magnify and elaborate what the law means; how to keep them: the law, the statutes and all the ordinances, including all his promises and pledges, in spirit and in truth.

²² But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses. They are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, “Restore.” — for a spoil, and none saith, restore; there is none to be an advocate for them; no one that asks for their restoration;

— for almost almost two thousand years they have been in this condition and yet none of the kings and princes of the earth have issued a proclamation for their return to their own land as Cyrus did; and no one moves for it, either from among themselves or others.

²³ Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? — who among you will give ear to this? – who is there in the nation that will be so warned by the judgements of God, that he will attend to the lessons which he designs to teach, and repents his life and return to him?

²⁴ Who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, neither were they obedient unto His law. — it was Yehovah, the God of their fathers and of their nation who had brought this calamity upon them. It was not the work of chance but it was the immediate and direct act of God on account of their sins.

²⁵ Therefore He hath poured upon him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle; and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. — yet he knew not; they refused to attend to it nor lay it to heart. They pursued their ways of wickedness, regardless of the threatening judgements and the impending wrath of God given by his prophets. They did not consider that these evils were inflicted for their crimes nor did they turn from their wicked ways when they were thus threatened with the wrath of God.

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More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late comer.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name. Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

Posted in Isaiah

Many believe Russia was and still is the main threat to the United States. Others, like warmonger John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, give incredible speeches around the world saying China is the main enemy.

And Mearsheimer brilliantly emphasizes the United States are protected by fish to the left and fish to the right, but foolishly negates to address America’s broken border in the South; and that the Scriptures say that America’s main “enemy” comes from the porous South! (for more, click here)

Isaiah 39

¹ At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered. — he sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; by his ambassadors, the purport of which their spies and secret agents were to congratulate him upon his recovery, and to inquire concerning the miracle that was wrought in his land; either the destruction of the Assyrian army in one night by an angel;

— or rather the sun’s going back ten degrees; as Josephus says, to enter into an alliance with him; and this seems to be the true reason of sending these ambassadors; desirous of entering into a league with Hezekiah.

² And Hezekiah was glad with them, and showed them the house of his precious things — the silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not. — shewed them the house of his precious things; this fixes the date of the embassy at a time prior to the payment to Sennacherib (II Kings 18:15-16), unless we were to assume that the treasury had been replenished by the gifts that followed on the destruction of Sennacherib’s army;

— but this, as we have seen is at variance with both the received and the rectified chronology. The display was obviously something more than the ostentation showing of his treasures. It was practically a display of the resources of the kingdom, intended to impress the Babylonian ambassadors, spies and secret agents, with a sense of his importance as an ally;

— the silver and the gold; large quantities of not only which he and his predecessors had laid up, which had been very lately greatly exhausted by the demand of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold by the king of Assyria; to answer which Hezekiah had given all the silver in the temple and in the treasures of the king’s house, and was so drove by necessity, that he cut off the gold from the doors and pillars of the temple, II Kings 18:14,

— so that it might be reasonable to ask, how came he so soon by all this treasure? it is possible that some part of the royal treasure might be unalienable, and he might have since received presents from his own nobles and from foreign princes; but this was chiefly from the spoils found in the Assyrian camp after the angel had made such a slaughter of them, II Kings 19:35.

³ Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, “What said these men? And from whence came they unto thee?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.” — the prophet Isaiah did not come of himself, but was sent by the Lord, not by the king; in the time of his distress and illness he could send for him but now being well and in prosperity he forgot the prophet to send for him and have his advice, how he should behave towards these men as not to offend the Lord:

— what said these men? – What proposition have they made? What is the design of their coming? It is implied in the question that there had been some improper communication from them. To this question Hezekiah makes no answer to this first question;

— but he replies at once to the second and said they are come from a far country even from Babylon; as being what his heart was lifted up with, that ambassadors should come to him from a very distant country and from so famous and renowned a place as Babylon; which showed that his name was great in foreign regions and was in high esteem in distant countries and even so great a prince as the king of Babylon courted his friendship.

⁴ Then said he, “What have they seen in thine house?” And Hezekiah answered, “All that is in mine house have they seen. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.” — coming nearer to the point he had in view, then said he, what have they seen in thine house? that he had shown them what he ought not to have done, and especially from such a principle of pride and vanity as he did:

— and Hezekiah answered without any reserve, not suspecting that the prophet had come with a reproof to him, or to blame him or would blame him for what he had done: all that is in my house have they seen; the several royal apartments and the furniture of them:

— there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them: which were more secret, laid up in cabinets, under lock and key; his gold, silver, jewels and precious stones, spices and ointments. Most probably the furniture and vessels of the temple, though he does not mention them.

⁵ Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: — Hear the word of the Lord of hosts; hear what the mighty God that rules in heaven says of this. This is an instance of great fidelity on the part of the prophet; who felt himself sent from God in a solemn manner to rebuke sin in a monarch, and a pious monarch. It is an instance that resembles the boldness and faithfulness of Nathan when he went to David, and said, ‘Thou art the man.’

⁶ ‘Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,’ saith the Lord. — behold, the days come; the captivity of the Jews in Babylon commenced about one hundred and twenty years after this prediction;

— nothing shall be left, saith the Lord; this was measure for measure as there was nothing that was not shown to the ambassadors, spies and secret agents, so nothing should be left untaken away by the Babylonians;

— Moses had declared repeatedly, that, if they were a rebellious people, they should be removed from their own to a foreign land; but he had not designated the country Leviticus 26:33-34; Deuteronomy 28:64-67; Deuteronomy 30:3. 

⁷ ‘And of thy sons who shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” — and of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, they shall be taken away; Manasseh his immediate son was taken and carried to Babylon, though afterwards released; nor does it appear that he was made a eunuch or an officer there;

— this had its fulfilment in Jeconiah and his children and in others that were of the seed royal, as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; this is expressed in different words, signifying much the same, to affect the mind of Hezekiah the more:

— and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon; or “chamberlains” and who very often were castrated for that purpose. The Targum renders it “princes” and such an one was Daniel in the court of the king of Babylon; and his three companions were also promoted, Daniel 2:48.

⁸ Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.” He said moreover, “For there shall be peace and truth in my days.” — then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken; Hezekiah was at once convinced of his sin, acknowledged it and owned that the sentence pronounced was but just and right; and that there was a mixture of mercy and goodness in it, in that time was given and it was not immediately executed:

— he said moreover, for there shall be peace and truth in his days; or a confirmed peace, lasting prosperity, peace in the state of temporal mercies, for which he was thankful; but that he was unconcerned about posterity, but inasmuch as it must be, what was foretold and which he could not object to as unjust, he looked upon it as a mercy to him that there was a delay of it to future times; or it may be considered as a wish, “O that there were peace” in his days.

Isaiah 40

¹ “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people,” saith your God. — Comfort ye, comfort ye; twice repeated to give double assurance. Having announced the coming captivity of the Jews in Babylon, God now desires His servants, the prophets (Isa 52:7), to comfort them. The scene is laid in Babylon; the time near the close of the captivity; the ground of comfort is the speedy ending of the captivity, the Lord Himself being their leader.

² “Speak ye comfortingly to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received from the Lord’S hand double for all her sins.” — speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her; or “speak to or according to the heart of Jerusalem” to her very heart, what will be a cordial to her, very acceptable, grateful and comfortable; and let it be proclaimed aloud, that she may hear and understand it. By “Jerusalem” is meant the inhabitants of Zion and the true elects living there.

³ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. — the voice of him that cries in the wilderness; that is, the voice of one called John the Baptist, who fulfilled this prophecy;

— prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God: by whom is meant the Messiah to whom a deity a noble testimony is bore here, being called “the Word” and “our God” whose way John prepared himself, by preaching the doctrine of repentance, administering the ordinance of baptism, pointing at the Messiah.

⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. — every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the meaning is that in consequence of John’s ministry and our Lord’s coming, such who were depressed and were low and humble in their own eyes, should be raised up and comforted; and that such who were elated with themselves and their own righteousness should be humbled; their pride and haughtiness should be brought down.

— and the crooked shall be straight and the rough places plain; what before was dark and intricate in prophecy should now become clear; and such doctrines as were not so well understood should now become plain and easy.

⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” — and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; the Son himself who is also the Messiah reflects the brightness of his Father’s glory and his own glory.

⁶ The voice said, “Cry!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. — the voice said, cry; not the voice of an angel but a voice from the Lord; it is the Lord’s voice to the prophet, giving them an order to prophesy;

— all flesh is grass; declare the frailty and mortality of men; all princes, nobles and monarchs; all armies and magistrates are like grass and will soon fade away;

— and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field; all the goodliness and glory of man; all that is excellent and valuable in him; his riches, honours, strength and knowledge; yea all his seeming holiness and righteousness; which are all fading and perishing like a gay flower, which appears lovely for a while, and on a sudden falls off or is cropped or trampled upon; to which a flower of the field is more liable than that of the garden.

⁷ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. — the grass withers, the flower fades; and so does man and all his glory and goodliness: because the spirit of the Lord blows upon it: alluding to some impetuous and blasting wind blowing upon herbs and flowers to the withering and fading of them.

⁸ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” — the grass withers; this is repeated from the former verse for the sake of emphasis or strong confirmation.

⁹ O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” — O Zion, that brings good tidings; or rather “Oh, thou that brings good things to Zion; thou that brings good tidings to Jerusalem;”

— behold your God! that divine Being is here that was promised, prophesied of and expected; even Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature, God manifest in the flesh, God our Saviour;

— your Lord and your God; the Targum says, “the kingdom of your God is revealed.” 

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. — behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand; this is of the second coming of the Son of God, his coming is certain, such assurances being given of it by promise and prophecy; and will be attended with power, summon all nations before him, and pass and execute the proper sentence on them; when his arm shall openly bear rule, he will take to himself his great power and reign.

¹¹ He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. — He shall gather the lambs with his arm; denoting the care of God the Saviour for the feeblest and weakest of his people, and for the young and feeble in years and piety; the tender lamb, unable to keep up with the flock, becomes weary and exhausted; and the shepherd naturally takes it in his arms and carries it.

¹² Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? — and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance; as easily as a man can throw in his goods into a pair of scales and take the true weight of them with equal ease did the Lord raise the mountains and the hills in a proper proportion;

— the answer to the above question is that it was the same divine Being of whom it is said, “behold your God, and who should come with a strong hand, and feed his flock.”

¹³ Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor hath taught Him? — who did God either need or take to advise him in any of his works, either of creation or the government of the world? were they not all the effects of his own sole wisdom?

— therefore though all the nations of the world contrive and conspire against him and against this work of his as indeed they will do, yet his own counsel shall confound all their devices and carry on his work in spite of them.

¹⁴ With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding? — with whom he took counsel and who instructed him; this is the same as before only repeated in other words, the more strongly to deny that any mere creature counselled, taught and instructing and managing the works of creation.

¹⁵ Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing. — Behold, the nations, all the nations of the earth. This is designed to show the greatness of God, in comparison with that which strikes man as great – a mighty nation;

— and the main object seems to be to show that God could accomplish his purposes without their aid and that they could not resist him in the execution of his plans. If they were as nothing in comparison with him, how easily could he execute his purposes! If they were as nothing, how little could they resist the execution of his plans!

¹⁶ And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. — and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn the trees of it, as the Targum says; these are not sufficient to burn a sacrifice with, suitable to the dignity and majesty of God.

¹⁷ All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity. — all nations before him are as nothing as if they were non-entities and were not real beings in comparison of him, who is the Being of beings, the author of all beings which exist in all nations; who are all in his sight and are not only as grasshoppers as is after mentioned but even as nothing.

¹⁸ To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him? — to whom then will ye liken God? there is nothing in the whole creation that can bear any resemblance to him or he to them; since all nations are as a drop of the bucket as the small dust of the balance as nothing, yea, less than nothing and is only vanity: “or what likeness will ye compare unto him” ordain and appoint for him?

¹⁹ The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casteth silver chains. — the workman melts a graven image; or “the founder” melts some sort of metal as iron, brass, copper or lead, which he casts into a mould for an image and afterwards graves or gets it graved.

— and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold; or “the finer” he stretches out plates of gold and covers it with them so that it looks as if it was made of solid gold and deceives the eyes of men; such stupidity and vanity are there in mortals to believe that there can be deity in such a piece of workmanship!

²⁰ He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skillful workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. — he that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation; who is so poor that he cannot bring an offering to his God, yet he will have one; and though he cannot purchase a golden or silver one, or one that is gilt and adorned with either; yet he will have a wooden one.

²¹ Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? — Have ye not known, God to be the only true God, the Maker and Governor of the world and all its inhabitants? how can you be ignorant of so evident a truth? He addresses his speech to the idolatrous Jews themselves in the times of Manasseh, when idolatry abounded, or to all idolaters.

²² It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, — that sits as a judge or governor upon his throne;

— upon the circle of the earth; or, above the circle; far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looks down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers.

²³ who bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. — that brings the princes to nothing; that is, all princes and kings, no matter how great their power, their wealth and their dignity, they are by his hand reduced to nothing before him.

²⁴ Yea, they shall not be planted, yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth. And He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. — yea, they shall not be planted; the kings and rulers, especially they who oppose God in the execution of his purposes. The idea in this verse is that their name and family should become extinct in the same way as a tree does from which no shoot starts up.

²⁵ “To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal?” saith the Holy One. — to whom then will ye liken me? – the prophet Isaiah having thus set forth the majesty and glory of God, asks now with great emphasis what could be an adequate and proper representation of such a God. And if God was such a Being, how great was the folly of idolatry and how vain all their confidence in the gods which their own hands had made.

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, who bringeth out their host by number. He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; not one faileth. — lift up your eyes on high; direct your eyes toward heaven and in the contemplation of the wonders of the starry world, and of God’s power there, learn the evidence of his ability to destroy his foes and to save his friends.

²⁷ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: “My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God”? — my way is hidden from the Lord; meaning not their course of life or their religious actions, their attendance on public worship, their prayers and other duties of religion; but their sufferings for his name’s sake, the tribulations they endured which they imagined God took no notice of;

— and my judgement is passed over from my God; my cause and case are neglected by him; he does not undertake my cause or right my wrongs, and avenge the injuries done me, or deliver me out of the hands of those that contend with me.

²⁸ Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding. — there is no searching of his understanding; it is infinite, it reaches to all persons and things and therefore he cannot be at a loss to provide for his people or plead their cause; nor can their case be unknown to him, or he want either power or skill to help them.

²⁹ He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. — He gives power to the faint; who are ready to faint under afflictions because they have not immediate deliverance, or their prayers are not answered at once, or promises not fulfilled as they expected;

— to such he gives fresh supplies of spiritual strength; he strengthens their faith and enlarges their views, to behold the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and confirms his blessings and promises of grace unto them.

³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; — even the youths shall faint; the most vigorous young men, those in whom we expect manly strength and who are best suited to endure hardy toil. They become weary by labor; their powers are soon exhausted;

— the design here is to contrast the most vigorous of the human race with God and to show that while all their powers fail, the power of God is unexhausted and inexhaustible.

³¹ but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. — they shall mount up with wings as eagles; which fly most strongly and swiftly, and high out of the reach of all danger; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint; they shall be enabled to run or walk in their way as they please without any weariness.

Posted in Isaiah

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Isaiah 37

This chapter is the same as II King 19

¹ And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. — and went into the house of the Lord; to the temple to pray there: he could have prayed in his own house (as Daniel did), but he chose rather to go to the house of God, and was used to hear the prayers of his people; also it was more public and would be known to the people and set them an example to follow him in. 

² And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. — unto Isaiah the prophet; at last the people did consult and see their counsellor; in that supreme hour of calamity the prophet who had been despised and derided was their only resource. What could he do to extricate them from the evil net which was closing round them?

³ And they said unto him, “Thus saith Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. — for the children are come; the meaning of this figure is plain: there was the highest danger. It was as in childbirth in which the pains had been protracted, the strength exhausted and where there was most imminent danger in regard to the mother and the child;

— so Hezekiah said there was the most imminent danger in the city of Jerusalem; they had made all possible preparations for defense; and now in the most critical time they felt their energies exhausted, their strength insufficient for their defense and they needed the intervention of God.

⁴ It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Therefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.’” — Rabshakeh; a name or a title serving the king of Assyria, probably the chief officer or cup-bearer;

— wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left; lift up thy voice, thy hands and thine heart in prayer to God in heaven; for those that are left; the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the other ten having been carried captive some time ago; the few that remained seems to be made use of as an argument for prayer in their favour.

⁵ Thus the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. — so the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah; and delivered the above message to him;

⁶ And Isaiah said unto them, “Thus shall ye say unto your master, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. — wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed God; by representing God as no better than the gods of the Gentiles, but unable to deliver out of the hands of the king of Assyria the city of Jerusalem, when he had said he would.

⁷ Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’” — I will put a spirit into him; a spirit of fear and dread, which will oblige him to desist from his purposes, and flee; as he did which cut off his army in one night.

⁸ So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. — and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; a city in the tribe of Judah and lay nearer to Jerusalem than Lachish where Rabshakeh left him; so that he seemed to be drawing his army towards that city on which his heart was set.

⁹ And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “He has come forth to make war with thee.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, — the Ethiopians in those days retained Upper Egypt under Tirhakah, with Thebes as the capital. Tirhakah’s fame as a conqueror rivalled that of Sesostris; he and one at least of the Pharaohs of Lower Egypt were Hezekiah’s allies against Assyria. The tidings of his approach made Sennacherib the more anxious to get possession of Jerusalem before his arrival.

¹⁰ “Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, ‘Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ — thus shall Rabshakeh speak to Hezekiah king of Judah —

¹¹ Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly. And shalt thou be delivered? — behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; he boasts of the achievements of himself and his ancestors; to gratify their lusts; but though many had been destroyed by them yet not all; not Ethiopia whose king was come out to make war with him; nor Egypt which was in confederacy with Ethiopia; nor Judea, he was now invading; but this he said in a taunting way to terrify Hezekiah:

— and shalt thou be delivered? canst thou expect it? surely thou cannot. Is it probable? yea, is it possible thou shouldest be delivered? it is not; as sure as other lands have been destroyed so sure shall thine.

¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden who were in Telassar? — have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed? asked Sennacherib; they have not. But what then? is the God of Israel to be put upon a level with such dunghill gods? so Sennacherib reckoned him as Rabshakeh before, in his name.

¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?”

¹⁴ And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. — and Hezekiah went up unto the house of God; the temple, the outward court of it, further than that he could not go:

— and spread it before the Lord; not to read it as he had done or to acquaint him with the contents of it; he brought it as a proof of what he had to say to him in prayer and to support him in his allegations, and as a means to quicken himself in the discharge of that duty.

¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,

¹⁶ “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. — the prayer opens with a solemn invocation of Yehovah, first his name as the God of Israel and second as the only true God and Creator of all things.

¹⁷ Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God. — and hear all the words of Sennacherib which he hath sent to reproach the living God; the Septuagint understands it of the words which Sennacherib sent in the letter to reproach the Lord; but in 2 Kings 19:16, it is, “which hath sent him” the messenger, Rabshakeh, or whoever was the person that brought the letter to Hezekiah. The Targum paraphrases the latter part thus, “to reproach the people of the living God.”

¹⁸ In truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries, — the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries: or “all the lands and their land” the Targum says, “all provinces and their lands” the countries and town and villages in them.

¹⁹ and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. — for they were no gods, but the works of hands, wood and stone; they were made of wood or of stone, and therefore could not be called gods; nor could they save the nations that worshipped them, nor themselves from the fire:

— therefore they have destroyed them; the Assyrian kings were able to do it and did do it because they were idols of wood or stone; but it did not therefore follow that they were a match for the God of Israel, the true and living God.

²⁰ Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only.”

²¹ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,

²² this is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. — the virgin, the daughter of Zion; hath despised thee; that is the inhabitants of Zion, called a “virgin” because it had never been forced or taken and to show that it was a vain thing in Sennacherib to attempt it as well as it would have been an injurious one;

— since God, the Father of this virgin, would carefully keep her from any sexual contamination; and he who was her husband to whom she was espoused as a chaste virgin, would defend and protect her.

²³ “‘Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel. — whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? A creature like thyself? no, but a God, and not one like the gods of the nations, the idols of wood and stone, but the living God, the Holy One of Israel.

²⁴ By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, “By the multitude of my chariots have I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the height of his border and the forest of his Carmel. — Isaiah continued his reply: the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser, are full of like boasts, the multitude of his chariots —

²⁵ I have dug and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.” — I have dug and drunk water; this again was one of the boasts of the Assyrian conqueror, Sennacherib —

²⁶ “‘Hast thou not heard long ago how I have made it, and of ancient times, that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. — Hast thou not heard; the speech of Sennacherib ends, and that of the Holy One of Israel begins. The adverb “long ago” should be connected with the words that follow; the events of history had all been foreseen and ordered, as in the remote past, by the counsels of Yehovah.

²⁷ Therefore their inhabitants were of small power; they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops and as corn blighted before it be grown up. — they were dismayed and confounded; not so much at the sight of Sennacherib’s army but because the Lord had dispirited them and took away their natural courage from them so that they became an easy prey to him:

— they were as the grass of the field: which has no strength to stand before the mower; as the grass on the housetops: which has no matter of root and is dried up with the heat of the sun.

²⁸ “‘But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me. — but I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in; where you dwelt, what you did at home, your secret councils, cabals, contrivances, schemes and plans of subduing of kingdoms and your scheme into the land of Judea; so the Targum says, “thy sitting in council, and thy going out abroad to make war, and thy coming into the land of Israel, are manifest before me.”

²⁹ Because thy rage against Me and thy tumult have come up into Mine ears, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.’ — because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears; the rage which Sennacherib expressed both by Rabshakeh, and in his letter against Hezekiah and his people is taken by the Lord as against himself;

— therefore will I put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips; comparing Sennacherib to leviathan, or to some unruly fish, not easily caught and managed; or to a bear or buffalo in whose noses men put iron rings and lead them about at pleasure; signifying hereby the strength, fierceness and fury of the Assyrian monarch and the power of God to restrain him.

³⁰ “And this shall be a sign unto thee: Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. — and this shall be a sign unto thee; not to Sennacherib but to Hezekiah; for here the Lord directs his speech to the latter in order to comfort him under the dreadful apprehensions he had of the Assyrian monarch; assuring him of deliverance; giving him a sign or token of it:

— ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself: and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof: all which was wonderful; whereas either through the invasion of the land or the siege of the city they could not till their land as they had used to do, or was destroyed or eaten up by the Assyrian army.

³¹ And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. — and the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah; the few that escaped out of the cities of Judah upon Sennacherib’s invasion of the land and besieging and taking the fenced cities thereof, who fled to Jerusalem for safety;

— shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. The Targum says, “as a tree which sends forth its roots below, and lifts up its branches above.”

³² For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. — shall go forth a remnant; the word ‘remnant’ means that which is left; and does not of necessity imply that it should be a small portion. No doubt a part of the Jews were destroyed in the invasion of Sennacherib, but the assurance is here given that a portion of them would remain in safety and that they would constitute that from which the future prosperity of the state would arise.

³³ “Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. — he shall not come into this city; Sennacherib encamped probably on the northeast side of the city and his army was destroyed there;

— nor shoot an arrow there; that is, nor shoot an arrow within the walls of the city; nor come before it with shields; the meaning here is that the army should not be permitted to come before the city defended with shields and prepared with the means of attack and defense.

³⁴ By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city,’ saith the Lord.

³⁵ ‘For I will defend this city to save it for Mine own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” — not for the merits of the inhabitants of it but for the sake of his own name and glory who had been blasphemed by the Assyrian monarch and his general; and for the sake of his servant David in whose seed he had promised the kingdom should be established.

³⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand (185,000); and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. — a prodigious slaughter indeed! which shows the power and strength of an angel of the Lord; behold, they were all dead corpses; the whole army, excepting a few; this may well be expressed with a note of admiration, “behold!” for a very wonderful thing it was.

³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went, and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. — dwelt at Nineveh; for about twenty years after his disaster, according to the Assyrian inscriptions. The word, “dwelt” is consistent with any indefinite length of time.

³⁸ And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat; and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Isaiah 38

¹ In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him and said unto him, “Thus saith the Lord: ‘Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.’” — in those days Hezekiah was sick unto death; this was about the time that Sennacherib invaded Judea, threatened Jerusalem with a siege and his army was destroyed by an angel from heaven; but whether it was before or after the destruction of his army, no one is sure.

² Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord — then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall; either to the wall of his bedchamber where he lay sick that his tears might not be seen, and his prayers interrupted; or else to the wall of the temple, as the Targum says, towards which good men used to look when they prayed.

³ and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight.” And Hezekiah wept sorely. — wept sore; Josephus says, the reason why he wept so sorely was that being childless; he was leaving the kingdom without a successor; but his wishes, when gratified, prove a curse!; for he lived to have a son; that son was the idolater Manasseh, the chief cause of God’s wrath against Judah and of the overthrow of the kingdom.

⁴ Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,

⁵ “Go, and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. — God of David thy father; God remembers the covenant with the father to the children (Ex 20:5; Ps 89:28, 29).

⁶ And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. — and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; so that it seems that Hezekiah’s sickness was while the king of Assyria was near Jerusalem and about to besiege it and before the destruction of the Assyrian army.

⁷ And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken: — and this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord; which it seems Hezekiah asked and it was put for him to choose, whether the shadow on the sundial should go forward or backward ten degrees and he chose the latter, 2 Kings 20:8, which was a token confirming and assuring.

⁸ Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which has gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.’” So the sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it had gone down. — so the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down; and so this day was longer by these degrees than a common day, and accordingly, we suppose the sun went back, suddenly or as it usually moved, though in a retrograde way and made the same progress again through these degrees.

⁹ The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: — the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah; the Septuagint calls it a “prayer” but the Targum is much better, “a writing of confession.”

¹⁰ I said, “In the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates of the grave; I am deprived of the residue of my years.” — Hezekiah shall go to the gates of the grave; he perceives that he must die without any hopes of prevention; the grave is called a man’s long home.

¹¹ I said, “I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. — I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world; or “time” of this fading transitory world, which will quickly cease.

¹² Mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent; I have cut off like a weaver my life. He will cut me off with pining sickness; from day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me. — mine age is departed; the time of my life is expired; as a shepherd’s tent, which is easily and speedily removed;

— I have cut off, to wit, by my sins, provoking God to do it. Or I do declare and have concluded that my life is or will be suddenly cut off; for men are oft said in Scripture to do those things which they only declare and pronounce to be done; as men are said to pollute and to remit and retain sins and the like, when they only declare men and things to be polluted and sins to be remitted or retained by God.

¹³ I reckoned till morning that, as a lion, so will He break all my bones; from day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.” — I reckoned till morning; or “I set my time till the morning” – he thought he should have died before the night came on and now it was come, the utmost he could propose to himself was to live till morning; that was the longest time he could reckon of; the Targum says, “I roared until morning, as a lion roars.”

¹⁴ Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me! — rather “like a crane and a swallow” – both are sometimes loud and clamorous like a crane when the pain was very acute and grievous; and sometimes very low, through weakness of body like the twittering of a swallow; or the moan he made under his affliction was like the mournful voices of these birds at certain times;

— I did mourn as a dove; silently and patiently within himself for his sins and transgressions; and because of his afflictions, the fruit of them.

¹⁵ What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, and Himself hath done it. I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. — what shall I say? in a way of praise and thankfulness, for the mercies promised and received; I know not what to say; I want words to express the gratitude of my heart for the kindness bestowed. What shall I render to God for all his benefits? So the Targum says, “what praise shall I utter, and I will say it before him?”

— I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul; before he did not reckon of a day to live, now he speaks of his years, having fifteen added to his days, during which time he should “go softly” in a thoughtful meditating frame of mind; frequently calling his bitter affliction and recovery out of it, acknowledging the goodness and kindness of God unto him.

— cheerfully, after the bitterness of my soul as it may be rendered; that is, after it is over, or because of deliverance from it. So the Targum says, “with what shall I serve him, and render to him for all the years he hath added to my life, and hath delivered me from the bitterness of my soul?”

¹⁶ O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit; so wilt Thou recover me and make me to live. — O Lord, by these things men live; not by bread only but by the word of God: by the promise of God and by his power performing it; and by his favour and goodness continually bestowed.

¹⁷ Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but Thou hast in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back. — behold for peace I had great bitterness; meaning not that instead of peace and prosperity which he expected would ensue upon the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, came a bitter affliction upon him;

— for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back; as loathsome and abominable; for though God sees all the sins of his people with his eye of omniscience and in his providence takes notice of them and chastises for them, yet not with his eye of avenging justice.

¹⁸ For the grave cannot praise Thee, death can not celebrate Thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. — for the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee; that is they that are in the grave, they cannot celebrate the praises of God; their souls may praise him but they in their bodies cannot till the resurrection morn, or as long as they are under the dominion of the grave; so the Targum says, “they that are in the grave cannot confess before thee, and the dead cannot praise thee.”

¹⁹ The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known Thy truth. — the living; only the living; emphatic repetition; his heart is so full of the main object of his prayer that for want of adequate words he repeats the same word;

— father to the children; one generation of the living to another. Hezekiah probably also hints at his own desire to live until he should have a child, the successor to his throne to whom he might make known and so perpetuate the memory of God’s truth.

²⁰ The Lord was ready to save me; therefore we will sing my songs with the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. — the Lord was ready to save me; the Lord was at hand to save him; God was a present help in time of need; he arose for his help, and that right early; he who one day expected death every moment was the next day in the temple praising God.

²¹ For Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.” — for Isaiah had said; before the above writing was made, which ends in the preceding verse; for this and the following are probably added by Isaiah or some other person. The Septuagint version adds, “to Hezekiah” but the speech seems rather directed to some of his servants, or those that were about him;

— let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover; which was done and he did accordingly recover; this was a miracle within a miracle since figs are hurtful to ulcers; it was not from the natural force of these figs but by the power of God that this cure was effected.

²² Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?” — Hezekiah also had said; what evidence or proof have I that I shall be restored and permitted to go to the temple? The miracle on the sun-dial was performed in answer to this request and as a demonstration that he should yet be permitted to visit the temple of God.

Posted in Isaiah

Many believe Russia was and still is the main threat to the United States. Others, like warmonger John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, give incredible speeches around the world saying China is the main enemy.

And Mearsheimer brilliantly emphasizes the United States are protected by fish to the left and fish to the right, but foolishly negates to address America’s broken border in the South; and that the Scriptures say that America’s main “enemy” comes from the unprotected and porous South! (for more, click here)

Isaiah 35

¹ The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. — this is a continuation of Isaiah the 34th chapter; the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, either for the wild beasts, satyrs, owls and vultures, that shall inhabit Edom or Petra and because it shall be an habitation for them; or they shall be glad for them, the Edomites and for the destruction of them; that is, as the Targum paraphrases it, “they that dwell in the wilderness, in the dry land, shall rejoice.”

² It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. — the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; the wilderness shall be as pleasant and fruitful as Lebanon, Carmel and Sharon; which were eminent parts of the land of Canaan as hath been oft noted.

— they, who are understood by the wilderness shall see the glory of the Lord; the glorious discoveries and effects of God’s power and goodness to his people.

³ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. — strengthen ye the weak hands; ye prophets and shepherds of God, comfort and encourage his people who are now ready to faint with hopes of that salvation which in due time he will work for them. The prophet mentions hands and knees because the strength or weakness of any man eminently appears in those parts.

⁴ Say to them that are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you.” — say to them that are of a fearful heart; who because of their own weakness and the strength of their enemies are discouraged and cast down:

— be strong, fear not, resist your fears, confide in the power, love and faithfulness of God who has promised to deliver those that trust in him and has engaged that as your day is your strength shall be, and you shall become strong. Behold, your God will come though he seem to be absent and to have departed from you, he will come and abide with you.

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. — then the eyes of the blind shall be opened; the images are of joy and exultation, the times of happiness when God would come to save them from their foes;

— this passage is a description of what the Messiah, the Lord Jesus did that it doubtless refers to the miracles which he would perform. In not a few instances did he in fact restore the blind to sight, giving thus the most unequivocal proof that he was the Messiah sent from God;

— and for the house of Israel, their blind would see their idolatry worship; such as (1) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; and (2) Mithra, worshipping the sun-god, when a mystical white Christmas of Babylon have been worshipped without their knowing.

⁶ Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. — an hart demoting the stag, or male deer; sometimes refers to any species of deer or antelope and this is referred to here from its quick and sprightly nature;

— and the tongue of the dumb sing; shall be able to sing and to praise God. On the restoration of the dumb to the benefits of language.

⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. — and the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water; such persons who have been like the parched earth, barren and unfruitful or like the earth scorched with the sun shall be comforted and refreshed; shall now enjoy peace and prosperity.

⁸ And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. — God shall be with them walking in the way; that is, he shall be their companion and guide in the way. Hence though fools they shall not err therein; the way shall be so plain and straight that even the most foolish travellers cannot easily mistake it.

⁹ No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon; it shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. — no lion shall be there; lions abounded in all the countries adjacent to Palestine; they are objects of dread and alarm. The prophet Isaiah therefore suggests that there should be no cause for such dread and alarm as they walk there.

¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. — and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away;

— sorrow and sighing shall flee away; which expressions are too magnificent and emphatical to be satisfied by the return of the Jews from Babylon to their own land; and from another captivity of 190/40 years just before the Millenium.

Isaiah 36

¹ Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. — the fourteenth year of Hezekiah was BC 714 or 713. Sargon was then King of Assyria and continued king till BC 705. Sennacherib did not ascend the throne till that year and he did not lead an expedition into the land of Judea till BC 701.

² And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fuller’s Field. — Rabshakeh; a name or a title, probably the chief officer or cup-bearer;

— a penalty of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold was imposed and paid, Hezekiah being reduced to empty his own treasury and that of the Temple and even to strip the Temple doors and pillars of the plates of gold with which they were overlaid.

³ Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder. — Eliakim; it is significant that Eliakim now fills the office which, a short time before had been filled by Shebna while the latter is reduced to the inferior position of a scribe (Isaiah 22:15-25). The change is clearly traceable to Isaiah’s influence. The “scribe” was the secretary who formulated despatches and degrees; the “recorder” probably the registrar of the official annals.

⁴ And Rabshakeh said unto them, “Say ye now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? — say ye now to Hezekiah; tell him what follows; he does not call him king as he does his own master: thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria; this he said boastingly of his master and in order to terrify Hezekiah and his subjects; whom he would represent as little in comparison of him who had subdued many kingdoms and aimed at universal monarchy.

⁵ I say, thou sayest (but they are but vain words), “I have counsel and strength for war.” Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? — the first part of the words are Hezekiah’s, “I say (sayest thou)”; and the latter, Rabshakeh’s note upon them; though they may be understood as Hezekiah’s or what he is made to speak by Rabshakeh.

⁶ Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, in Egypt, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. — Lo, thou trust in the staff of this broken reed on Egypt his ally and auxiliary; and which is rightly called “the staff of a broken reed” if trusted to and leaned upon the banks of the river Nile in Egypt.

⁷ But if thou say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, “Ye shall worship before this altar”? — Rashid: Whose high places… has removed: He abolished all the pagan temples and the altars and the high places and has coerced all Judah to prostrate themselves before one altar.

⁸ Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. — there was something absurd in the idea of Judah coming out as strong in its cavalry. Had they two thousand men who could manage their horses if they had them?

⁹ How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? — how then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? that is, he reproaches Hezekiah’s small power which is not able to resist one of Sennacherib’s least captains.

¹⁰ And have I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said unto me: “Go up against this land, and destroy it.”’” — Rabshakeh would insinuate that he had a commission from the Lord God, a boastful inference from the past successes of Assyria, designed to influence the Jews to surrender.

¹¹ Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, “Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people who are on the wall.”

¹² But Rabshakeh said, “Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men who sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?” — Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants; the king’s officers, knowing the “little faith” of their people are not, perhaps without misgivings of their own and listening eagerly on the wall, recognise in Rabshakeh’s words an echo of Isaiah’s and lose courage as feeling that they were fighting against the God who was chastising them?

— the Syrian or Aramaic was a common ground for the ambassadors on both sides as being the language of commerce and diplomacy. Rabshakeh, it would seem, could speak three languages, Assyrian, Syrian and Hebrew; Hezekiah’s ministers the two latter; the “people on the wall” only the last.

¹³ Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, “Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! — then Rabshakeh stood, indicating the posture of a man who intends to speak to them at a distance. And cried with a loud voice so that those on the wall could hear.

¹⁴ Thus saith the king: ‘Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you. — thus saith the king, the king of Assyria, whom he personated, whose general and ambassador he was; so he spoke to command the greater awe of the people and the more to terrify them:

— let not Hezekiah deceive you; with fair words, promising protection and safety, making preparations for the defence of the city and to oblige the besiegers to break up the siege of it: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

¹⁵ Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.” — neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord; Hezekiah trusted in the Lord himself and he endeavoured, both by his own example and by arguments to persuade his people to do so likewise; of this Rabshakeh was sensible and was more afraid of this than of any thing else and therefore laboured this point more than any other;

— saying, the Lord will surely deliver us, this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria: which he might say with the greatest confidence; since the Lord had promised to defend it, Isaiah 31:5 since it is expressly promised by the Lord that he would deliver him and the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria.

¹⁶ Hearken not to Hezekiah, for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern, — Hearken not to Hezekiah, to his exhortations and persuasions to trust in the Lord; nor would he have them obey him in things civil any more than hearken to him in things sacred, and so the Targum says, “do not obey Hezekiah” or receive any orders from him, or pay any regard to them:

— Make an agreement with me, that is, “make peace with me” and the Septuagint version is, “if ye would be blessed” or happy, come out to me; forsake your king, throw off your allegiance to him, surrender yourselves and city to me.

¹⁷ until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. — until I come; these are the words of the king of Assyria delivered by Rabshakeh. It was proposed that they should remain safely in Jerusalem until Sennacherib should himself come and remove them to his own land.

¹⁸ Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? — beware lest Hezekiah persuade you; to trust in the Lord, stand up in your own defence and not listen to these proposals; or lest he “deceive you” with vain words;

— hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land; over whom he presided and to whom the people of it were devotees: out of the hand of the king of Assyria? this reasoning would have had some weight in it had the Lord God of Israel been like the gods of the nations but he is not.

¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? — where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? What become of them? where are they to be found? where’s their power to protect and defend the people they presided over?

— and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? the gods of the above places which were worshipped in Samaria or the gods peculiar to that place; though Samaria was not taken by the present king of Assyria, Sennacherib but by a predecessor of his, Shalmaneser.

²⁰ Who are they among all the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” — who are they amongst all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand? Not one of them, it is suggested; wherefore then should it be thought practicable;

— that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? thus blasphemously setting the Lord God of Israel upon a level with the fictitious gods of the Gentiles; though these could not, the Lord could, being the Lord God Almighty. If Rabshakeh was an apostate Jew he must have known better but the malice of such is usually the greatest.

²¹ But they held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, saying, “Answer him not.” — but they held their peace; Hezekiah seems to have commanded silence as if distrustful either of the wisdom of the ambassadors or of the effect which any chance words might have upon the garrison and people of Jerusalem.

²² Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. — with their clothes rent the act was the natural expression of their horror at the blasphemy of Rabshakeh’s words; they would not reply to that blasphemy and trusted to the effect of this silent protest on the minds of the people who had heard it.

Posted in Isaiah

The Russian bear seems to have bitten a porcupine which has now got stuck to its mouth, unable to swallow it nor to dislodge it, creating lots of anxieties.

“Ukraine has biological research facilities, which in fact we are now quite concerned Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach,” said Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, during a Senate hearing on Ukraine; Mar 9, 2022

Is Fort Detrick the Source of Covid-19?

Isaiah 33

¹ Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. — thou shalt be spoiled; this was literally fulfilled when the Assyrian monarchy lost its splendor and power and was finally taken over by the more mighty Babylon empire.

— they shall deal treacherously with thee; that is, ‘thou shalt be dealt with in a treacherous manner.’ The result was that Sennacherib was treacherously slain by his own sons as he was ‘worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god’ Isaiah 37:38, and thus the prophecy was literally fulfilled; God would reward their desire of plundering a nation that had not injured them by the desolation of their own.

² O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee; be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. — we have waited for thee; time after time, year after year, in the use of means; hoping for his kind appearance; expecting help and salvation.

— be thou their arm every morning; when they pray unto thee, the morning being the time of prayer; and also be their arm all the day long, to lean and depend upon, to support, protect and defend them; there is a change of person from the first to the third, usual in prophetic and poetic writings; and the Targum, “our strength.”

³ At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of Thyself the nations were scattered. — at the noise of the tumult; which shall be made upon the angel’s destroying the army; the people fled; those of the army who escaped that stroke. At the lifting up of thyself to execute judgement, the nations were scattered, the people of many nations which made up Sennacherib’s army.

⁴ And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar; as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. — and your spoil; the treasure which you have raked by spoiling diverse people; shall be gathered; but you shall be forced to flee with all possible speed, leaving your spoils; behind like the gathering of the caterpillar; as caterpillars gather and devour all the fruits of the earth; or as the running to and fro of locusts; as locusts, especially when they are armed by a commission from God, come with great force, devouring every thing before them;

— or like the Russian oligarchs, who are charged complicit in crimes, that sail their superyachts (private jets, posh homes, football clubs and other trophies) scurrying away like rats to other places of refuge like Dubai, Bahrain, Doha or other safe havens before being seized by Western officials after their wealth are deemed stolen from the Russian people!

⁵ The Lord is exalted, for He dwelleth on high; He hath filled Zion with judgement and righteousness. — the Lord is exalted; by the destruction of so potent an army and by the defence of his people. For he dwelleth on high; He is, and will appear to be, superior to his; He dwelleth in heaven, whence he can easily and irresistibly pour down judgements upon his enemies.

⁶ And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times and strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is his treasure. — and wisdom and knowledge; to govern thyself and the people well; the fear of the Lord is his treasure; thy chief treasure and delight shall be in promoting the fear and worship of God.

⁷ Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without; the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. — behold, their valiant ones shall cry outside: the ambassadors of peace or to beg peace of the Assyrian shall weep bitterly.

⁸ The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth; he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. — the highways lie waste; a description of the desolations that had been caused by the invasion of Sennacherib; in the consternation and alarm that was produced by his approach, the roads that had been usually thronged were now solitary and still. A mournful desolation already prevailed and they apprehended still greater calamities and hence they wept;

— he hath broken the covenant; Sennacherib broke his oath given to Hezekiah of departing for a sum of money, II Kings 18:14,17; he hath despised the cities; the defenced cities of Judah which he contemned and easily took; he regarded no man; either to spare them or to fear them.

⁹ The earth mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down. Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

¹⁰ “Now will I rise,” saith the Lord; “now will I be exalted; now will I lift up Myself. — now will God be exalted; that is, in his power by the destruction of the enemies of the elect; and in the hearts and mouths of his people, on account of their deliverance and salvation:

— now will God lift up himself; show himself above his enemies, higher and greater than they, and reduce them to a low estate and condition. The repetition of the word “now” has its emphasis and is designed to observe the time of God’s appearing in the cause of his people and the firmness of his resolution to do it without delay which he would set about it.

¹¹ Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as fire, shall devour you. — ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble, instead of solid corn. Your great hopes and designs, O ye Assyrians! shall be utterly disappointed;

— your breath, as fire, shall devour you; your rage against my people shall bring ruin upon yourselves.

¹² And the people shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. — and the people shall be as the burnings of lime; like chalk stones that are burnt to make lime of; which may denote not only their hardness and impenitency which brought upon them and issued in the wrath of God;

— as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire; thorns are a fit simile to express the unfruitfulness, uselessness and harmfulness of wicked men and these “cut up” and so not green and moist, but dry and fit fuel for the fire, which burn the more easily and quickly.

¹³ Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done, and ye that are near, acknowledge My might.” — Hear, ye that are far off, indicating that the destruction of the Assyrian army would be to signal that it would be known to distant nations and would constitute an admonition to them;

— the signal deliverance of Jerusalem will be a great demonstration to all the world of the omnipotence of the God of Israel.

¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” — sinners in Zion; who had the guise and form of religion but not the power of it and were for fleeing to Egypt and trusting in Pharaoh but not in the Lord; these are pretenders with a false religion among the elect.

¹⁵ He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil— he that walks righteously; this describes the characteristics of the righteous who put their confidence in God;

— and speaks uprightly; his words are well-ordered, words which are not false, perfidious, slanderous or obscene; for an individual his words are simple, honest and true; for a magistrate his decisions are according to justice;

— he that despise the gain of oppressions; by ‘Deceits’ – he abhors the gain that is the result of imposition, false dealing and false weights. Or if it means oppressions as the word usually does, he does not oppress the poor or take advantage of their needy condition or affix exorbitant prices or extort payment in a manner that is harsh and cruel.

¹⁶ he shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the fortifications of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. — he shall dwell on high; heights or high places were usually places of safety, being inaccessible to an enemy; he should be safe from the anger, wrath and consuming fire.

¹⁷ Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off. — thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty in his royal robes and with a cheerful countenance, as a King reigning gloriously before his elects in Jerusalem: the Targum says, “thine eyes shall see the glory of the Majesty of the King of worlds in his praise;” that is, the glory of the Majesty of God.

¹⁸ Thine heart shall meditate terror: “Where is the scribe? Where is the receiver? Where is he that counted the towers?” — thine heart shall meditate terror: this is either premonition concerning a future judgement as if he said, Before these glorious promises, thou shalt be brought into great straits and troubles. Or rather, a thankful acknowledgment of deliverance from a former danger; as if he had said, When thou art delivered, thou shalt with pleasure and thankfulness recall to mind thy former terrors and miseries;

— where is the scribe? who enrolled and pay the army; or who prescribed the tribute to be paid; or who kept an account of the spoil; perhaps a secretary of state or of war or an inspector-general who had the charge of reviewing an army and who made an estimate of the strength of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive, of a stammering tongue that thou canst not understand. — fierce people; the Assyrians shall not be allowed to enter Jerusalem. Or, thou shalt no longer see fierce enemies threatening thee as previously; such as the Babylonians, Romans or any endtime enemies that is yet to assail Jerusalem;

— a people of a deeper speech; a people whose language is so deep, that is, so dark or obscure that it cannot be understood by you. This refers to the army of the Assyrians, who spoke the Syrian language, which was understood by some of the Jews, but which was unintelligible to the masses.

²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. — Look upon Zion; contemplate Zion’s beauty and safety, and her glorious and peculiar privileges; it is an object worthy of thy deepest meditation;

— the city of our solemnities: the chief part of Zion’s glory and happiness that God was solemnly ordained and the solemn assemblies and feasts kept in Zion. A quiet habitation which was but very obscurely and imperfectly fulfilled in an earlier Zion; but was clearly and fully accomplished in a latter Zion, the kingdom of God in the times of the Millenium against which we are assured that the gates of hell shall not prevail.

²¹ But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. — there in and around Zion the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams: as if we were surrounded with such great rivers as the Nile or Euphrates, which were a great security to Egypt and Babylon;

— wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby; but they shall have from God the security of a great river yet they shall be freed from the disadvantage of it; which is that the enemies may come against them in ships; for no galleys nor ships of the enemy’s shall be able to come into this river to annoy them.

²² For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us. —that is, “The Lord, our judge, the Lord, our lawgiver . . . He will save us.”

²³ Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail; then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. — thy tacklings are loosed; God directs his speech to the Assyrians; and having tacitly designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, he represents their broken and undone condition by the metaphor of a ship tossed in a tempestuous sea, having her cables broken and all her tacklings loose, and out of order so as she could have no benefit of her masts and sails; and therefore is quickly broken or swallowed up by the sea;

— they; the Assyrians, then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey; they who came to spoil and prey upon my people shall become a prey to them and shall be forced to flee away so suddenly, that they shall leave so many spoils behind them that when strong and active men have carried away all that they desired, there shall be enough left for the lame who come last to the spoil. The general sense of the place is, that God’s people shall be victorious over all their enemies.

²⁴ And the inhabitant shall not say, “I am sick”; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. — the inhabitant, to wit, of Jerusalem, God’s people shall not say, I am sick; shall have no cause to complain of any sickness or calamity; shall be fully delivered from all their enemies and evil occurrents; shall enjoy perfect tranquillity and prosperity. The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Isaiah 34

¹ Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people! let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and all things that come forth from it. — the Judgement on all nations are concerned, but particularly of Edom or Idumea;

— let the earth hear and all that is therein: not just the land of Judea but all the earth and the inhabitants of it: the world and all things that come forth of it; which may either be understood of those that dwell in it, as the Targum interprets it;

² For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies; He hath utterly destroyed them; He hath delivered them to the slaughter. — for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations; all the nations of the earth which have committed fornication with either the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Persians, the Greeks or the whore of Rome, or have given in to her false worship, superstition and idolatry; which is the reason of God’s wrath and indignation against them and of such severe punishment being inflicted on them.

³ Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stench shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. — their slain shall be cast out into the fields where they shall lie unburied and be left for a prey to all ravenous birds and beasts; whereby he implies, either the vast numbers which shall be slain so as they could not have time or place to bury them; or the curse of God upon them and the people’s contempt and abhorrence of them;

— shall be melted with their blood; shall be filled with their blood which shall run down abundantly from the mountains with great force and dissolve and carry down part of the earth of the mountains with it as great showers of rain frequently do.

⁴ And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. — and all the host of heaven: the sun, moon and stars; shall be dissolved; also in the prophetic language the heavenly luminaries represent kings, empires and states:

— shall be dissolved; so great shall be the confusion and consternation of mankind as if all the frame of the creation were broken into pieces as of the general judgement;

— the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, Heb. as a book; for books were then written in scrolls, which they usually rolled up together; and when they were so no man could read any word in it; and no more shall any man be able to see those truths and lights of heaven for they shall all be obscured and confounded.

⁵ “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Edom and upon the people of My curse in judgement.” — for my Sword shall be bathed in heaven; that is, the Sword of the Lord, as it is called in the next verse Isaiah 34:6, and it is he that is speaking; it designs the vengeance of the Lord, the punishment he will inflict on the wicked, said to be “bathed in heaven” because it was determined and prepared there; the allusion may be to the bathing of Swords in some sort of liquor to harden or brighten them, and so fit them for use;

— it shall come down upon Idumea; upon the Edomites, who, though they were nearly related to the Israelites yet were their implacable enemies. But these are named for all the enemies of God’s elects, of whom they were an eminent type;

— Chabad Bible: “upon the nation with whom I contend [with]” – in great probability this would refer to the house of Jacob and not so much to Edom; if so this few verses would be tied to Ezekiel 20:45 to 21:5 where the Sword of the Lord or My Sword is similarly mentioned.

⁶ The sword of the Lord is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. — is filled with blood; shall drink its fill of blood. The metaphor is here taken from a great glutton or drunkard, who is almost insatiable with meat and drink;

— with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: by lambs and goats and rams, he means people of all ranks and conditions, high and low, rich and poor. A sacrifice; so he calleth this bloody work because it was done by God’s command, and for his honour; and therefore was a service acceptable to him.

— Bozrah, the capital city of Idumea; see further Isaiah 63:1, a parallel text; where Edom and Bozrah are mentioned. Could this be connected to the Sword from the South in Ezekiel 20:45 to 21:5?

⁷ And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. — and the unicorns shall come down with them; together with the bullocks and bulls, which are also mentioned in Deuteronomy 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock and his horns are like the horns of unicorns. With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

⁸ For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. — the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion; the long-delayed day of retribution should come at last; this would be the outcome from the hand of the Almighty God for the persistent hostility of the Edomites to the city which He had chosen.

⁹ And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. — the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch; the imagery of the punishment which is to fall on Edom is suggested partly by the scenery of the Dead Sea, partly by the volcanic character of Edom itself with its extinct craters and streams of lava.

¹⁰ It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. — and Edom shall be a desolation as in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities thereof.

¹¹ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. — but the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the word for “cormorant” is rendered a “pelican” in Psalm 102:6 they were both unclean fowls; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; which were likewise unclean creatures.

¹² They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. — the idea is that the kingdom would be desolate; there would be no people to rule. Or, there will be no nobles there who shall survive the destruction to undertake the government of the state.

¹³ And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of dragons and a court for owls. — an habitation of dragons and a court for owls; the wild creatures named are identified, as elsewhere, with “jackals” (“wild dogs”) and “ostriches” like the ruins of Petra.

¹⁴ The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there and find for herself a place of rest. — and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; or the “hairy” one; from which word the goat has its name; and these creatures are described by the ancients as half goats and half men; the Targum renders it demons (Rashid: the name of the female demon); and with this well agrees the account of Babylon or Rome as fallen, that it shall be the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit.

¹⁵ There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. — there shall the great owl make her nest, lay and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate; signifying that Idumea (like the wilderness of Petra) would be a horrible desolation and barren wilderness.

¹⁶ Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: No one of these shall fail, none shall lack her mate; for My mouth, it hath commanded, and His Spirit, it hath gathered them. — Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read; this of the book of the law of Moses and of the prophets; which being consulted, it will appear that punishment was threatened to be inflicted on the enemies of God’s people, particularly the Edomites.

¹⁷ And He hath cast the lot for them, and His hand hath divided it unto them by line; they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. — God hath divided the land to them, as it were by lot and line as Canaan was divided among the Israelites. The Targum adds, “by his word” and his hand hath divided it unto them by line; the same adds, “by his will.”

Posted in Isaiah

Many believe Russia was and still is the main threat to the United States. Others, like warmonger John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, give incredible speeches around the world saying China is the main enemy.

And Mearsheimer brilliantly emphasizes the United States are protected by fish to the left and fish to the right, but foolishly negates to address America’s broken border in the South; and that the Scriptures say that America’s main “enemy” comes from the unprotected and porous South! (for more, click here)

Isaiah 31

¹ Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and depend upon horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! — woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; or “O ye that go down.” Such were their rulers and people, or ambassadors sent to the king of Egypt, to supply them with men and horses against the king of Assyria, contrary to the express command of God;

— and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; having their dependence upon, and placing their confidence in, the strength and numbers of the cavalry of the Egyptians.

² Yet He also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back His words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that work iniquity. — Yet he also is wise; that is, God, the Holy One of Israel, whom they disregarded; and wiser too than the Egyptians; so wise as to know all their schemes, and able to confound them, as well as most certainly and fully to complete his own; and it would have been therefore the highest wisdom to have attributable to him and not to men;

— and will bring evil; the punishment or affliction on wicked men which he has warned and which they could in no wise escape; and will not call back his words; his warnings delivered by the prophets: these, as he does not repent of, he will not revoke or make void, but fulfil and accomplish;

— but will arise against the house of evildoers; against the ten tribes of Israel, against the Jews, or it may be the royal family, chiefly concerned in sending the embassy to Egypt, or in advising to it; though it may be for the plural, as the Septuagint renders it “the houses” and so may design all those great families are therefore called “evildoers”

— and against the help of them that work iniquity; that is, against the Egyptians, the helpers of the Jews, who were workers of iniquity, and therefore their help and hope in it would also be in vain; who were wicked and idolatrous and so not to be sought unto for help or trusted in, since God being against them, it would be to no purpose as he is against all workers of iniquity.

³ Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out His hand, both he that helpeth shall fall and he that is helped shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. — now the Egyptians are men, and not God; be it that they are mighty before men, but not before God; and indeed they are but frail, feeble, mortal, and mutable men, and therefore not to be trusted in, and depended on; or to be put upon an equality with God;

— and the Jews that are helped shall fall down; helped by the Egyptians, who should also fall and be destroyed, though not now; yet hereafter by the Chaldeans as they were: and they all shall fail together; both the Egyptians and the Jews.

⁴ For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me: As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them; so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. — like the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey; or “growling over his prey” for the lion roars when he is hungry and wants a prey and not when he has got one; but when he has one and feeding upon it, he makes a lower noise, a growling one;

— so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion; that is, he shall come down from heaven with his angel and fight against the Assyrian army, in favour of the inhabitants of Zion or Jerusalem and deliver them; and there will be no more withstanding him or putting him off from his purpose, or preventing his good designs and resolutions than the shepherds are able to divert a lion from his prey.

⁵ As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending, also He will deliver it; and passing over, He will preserve it. — as birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; as birds in the air at a distance, especially the eagle, have their eye upon their nests and their young ones in them and when in danger fly to their assistance and hover over them to keep off those that would hurt them, so the Lord, on high sees his people when in distress and hastens to surround, protect and defend them.

⁶ Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. — turn ye unto him from the Egyptians to whom they sought for help unto the Lord, whom they had neglected; from evil ways and practices, idolatry and impiety to the true worship of God, to his word and ordinances, statutes and commands. The Targum says, “turn to the law” which they had rejected and broken. 

⁷ For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. — every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold; with contempt and abhorrence of them; every man “his” own idol and even those that were of the greatest value, which were made of gold and silver;

— which your own hands have made; their idols were the work of their own hands and were made by them in order to commit sin with, the sin of idolatry; for the punishment which your hands have made; it was a sin to make such idols especially with a view to worship them.

⁸ “Then shall the Assyrian fall by the sword, but not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a lowly man, shall devour him; but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. — then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; that is, the Assyrian army under Sennacherib their king, which besieged Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s time; which as soon as the people were brought to a sense of their sin and cast away their idols as a proof of it, were utterly destroyed; but not in battle, not by the sword of Hezekiah, nor any of his valiant generals;

— and the sword, not of a mean man shall devour him; neither the sword of a general, nor of a private soldier, nor indeed of any man but of an angel; see II Kings 19:35;

— but he shall flee from the sword; from the drawn sword of the angel, who very probably appeared in such a form as in 1 Chronicles 21:16 which Sennacherib king of Assyria seeing, as well as the slaughter made in his army by him, fled from it; in the Hebrew text it is added, “for himself” he fled for his life, for his own personal security; see II Kings 19:36;

— and his young men shall be discomfited; his choice ones, the flower of his army, they “melt away” through fear; or die by the stroke of the angel upon them.

⁹ And he shall pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign,” saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem. — and the king of Assyria shall pass over to his stronghold in fear; this is of departing in haste from the siege of Jerusalem to some stronghold in his own country, particularly his strong city Nineveh, for fear of the angel and destruction following him; nor could he think himself safe until he had got there;

— others render it (and the original will bear it), “and his rock shall pass over for fear” his mighty men, his men of valour, in whom he trusted who were his strength upon which he depended; these as many as were left of them, fled away. So the Targum says, “his princes shall flee for fear.”

Isaiah 32

¹ Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgement. — behold, a King shall reign in righteousness; not Hezekiah; at least only as a type, but rather the Son of God, the Christ himself, who is also the “King” not only of Judah, but the whole world, and in particular is King of all the saints; and who “reigns” in and over his Kingdom and people, being set as King by his Father over his holy hill of Zion;

— and princes, the elects of God, shall rule in judgement: who are set over the Kingdom and who rule with righteous judgement when they rule according to the word of God; they who shall teach the truth and administer ordinances, statues and the law.

² And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. — and a man; evidently, the princes referred to in the previous verse; shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, a place where one may take refuge from a violent wind and tempest.

— a covert, a place of shelter and security. Wind and tempest are emblematic of calamity and oppression; and the sense is, that the princes would be the protector of other people and would save them from the calamities to which they had been subjected to in former reigns.

³ And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. — and the eyes of them that see; that there shall be, under the reign of this wise and pious prince, on the part of the prophets and teachers, a clear view of divine truth, and on the part of the people who hear, a disposition to hearken and to attend to it.

⁴ The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. — the heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge; who have been hasty and who have not given themselves time to consider what they have read or heard, and have hastily received every thing that has been suggested to them, especially by carnal sense and reason, shall now sit down, and coolly consider things, and so gain an understanding of divine and deeper spiritual knowledge, of the knowledge of God, his Son, the Messiah, the Christ, of his person, offices, his righteousness and redemption.

— and the tongue of the stammerer shall be ready to speak plainly; or “shall make haste to speak neatly” elegantly and politely; such who hesitated in speech, and spoke in a blundering manner, or scarcely intelligibly, especially when they spoke of divine and spiritual things, yet now, without the least hesitation, in the freest and most ready manner, with all plainness and propriety shall talk of these things, to the great delight, satisfaction and use of those that hear them.

⁵ The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. — the vile person; the base and worthless men shall be no more called liberal; they shall no longer be reputed honourable, because of their high and honourable places, but wickedness shall be discovered wherever it is, and virtue manifested and rewarded;

— nor the churl said to be bountiful, the sordid and covetous man; but under this one vice all vices are understood, as under the opposite virtue of bountifulness all virtues are comprehended.

⁶ For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry; and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. — for the vile person will speak villany; men shall no longer be miscalled; for every one will discover what he is by his words and actions. And will work iniquity; he will, from time to time, be devising wickedness, that he may execute it when he hath opportunity. To practise hypocrisy; to do bad things, though with a pretence of religion and justice. To utter error; to pass unjust sentences, directly contrary to the command of God. To cause the drink, whereby they take away the bread and drink of the poor.

⁷ The instruments also of the churl are evil; he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. — the instruments also of the churl are evil; a word that signifies any person or thing which is employed in a man’s service; the sense is that such covetous or wicked princes most willingly choose and employ wicked men in their affairs, because such men will, without any regard to conscience or justice: serve all their exorbitant desires;

— he devises wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right; he consults, contrives and forms schemes with all craft and cunning, on purpose, to corrupt the poor and meek, humble and afflicted souls, with false doctrines; even when these poor and needy ones, who want to have sound and comfortable doctrine delivered to them, speak and ask for that which is right and just, agreeably to the oracles of God; therefore such a man is unfit to be a ruler in the house of God.

⁸ But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. — liberal, or rather “noble-minded” – he who is truly liberal and virtuous will show it by designing and practising liberal or virtuous actions;

— liberal, who devises liberal things, and persists or continues in liberal things. But the liberal; the word ‘liberal’ means generous, noble, benevolent; a man of large views and of public spirit; a man above covetousness, and self-seeking; a man who is willing to devote himself to the welfare of his country, and to the interests of his fellow-men. It is implied here that such persons would be selected to administer the affairs of the government I under the wise and virtuous prince of whom the prophet speaks.

⁹ Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. — ye women that are at ease; they who are surrounded by the comforts which affluence gives, and that have no fear of being reduced to other than a princess.

— ye careless daughters – Hebrew, ‘Daughters confiding;’ that is, those who felt no alarm, and who did not regard God and his warnings and threats.

¹⁰ Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. — many days and years shall ye be troubled, or “days above a year” – a year and somewhat more, or days upon a year, year upon year, one year after another; and so denotes a long duration of their troubles; and so the troubles of the Jews, before their utter destruction by the Romans lasted a great while;

— for the vintage shall fail – A large part of the wealth and the luxury of the nation consisted in the vintage. When the vine failed, there would be, of course, great distress. The sense is that in consequence of the invasion of the Assyrians, either the people would neglect to cultivate the lands or they would fail to collect the harvest. This might occur either from the dread of the invasion or because the Assyrian would destroy everything in his march.

¹¹ Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones. Strip you and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins; — tremble, ye women that are at ease; the call to repentance includes their stripping themselves of their costly finery, and putting on the “sackcloth” and put on the habiliments of mourning, indicative of a great calamity.

¹² they shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. — they shall lament for the teats; either of the beasts of the field, that should be dried up; or else of the women, their breasts and teats, which should afford no milk for their infants, through the famine that should press them sore, which would occasion great lamentation, both in mothers and children.

¹³ Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers, yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. — upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; the curse of the earth, being uncultivated, and this through want of men, they being destroyed or carried captive by the enemy; this is to be understood of the land of Judea and of Samaria; which is mentioned to show the apostasy of both houses, for which ruin came upon their land;

— upon all the houses of joy; that is, Jerusalem, the joy of the whole earth; and the “houses of joy.”

¹⁴ Because the palaces shall be forsaken, the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks, — because the palaces shall be forsaken; the palaces of the princes and nobles shall be forsaken; they being obliged to flee from the enemy or being taken and either slain or carried captive. The word in the Hebrew is in the singular number, “the palace”, meaning the royal palace; and so of the king’s palace; though the Targum paraphrases it the house of the sanctuary, or the temple;

— a pasture of flocks; where flocks of sheep feed, instead of being inhabited by men; for the desire or at the will of the Ishmaelites and their army and certain it is that Jerusalem now is in the hands of the Ishmaelites, Turks or Moslems. The Targum says, “the place which was a house of joy and gladness for kings is now become a spoil for armies.”

¹⁵ until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. — until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high; that is, Jerusalem shall lie in ruins until the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, which, as it was before the destruction of the city by the Romans, so the desolation it was brought on until the fulness of the Gentiles are fulfilled;

— and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest; this will be the consequence, fruit and effect of the effusion of the Spirit in the latter day; that such parts of the world as were like a wilderness, barren and unfruitful, producing nothing but the briers and thorns of impiety, infidelity, superstition and idolatry, should now become like a fruitful field.

¹⁶ Then judgement shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. — then judgement shall dwell in the wilderness; in the desert part of the world, inhabited by Gentiles where the Scriptures, the rule of judgement and where the Gospel, sometimes called the judgement of the Lord had no place, now they shall have one and such as do justice and judgement shall dwell there.

¹⁷ And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. — and the work of righteousness; that which righteousness produces; or the effect of the prevalence of righteousness on the nation; shall be peace; there shall be no internal agitation and no conflicts with foreign nations.

¹⁸ And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places — in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings; where they may dwell safely and confidently, secure from all enemies, in no fear of them and free from all hurt and danger by them:

— and in quiet resting places where they may sleep and rest quietly and none to disturb them and make them afraid; and where they shall enjoy much spiritual prosperity and safety, great peace and quietness, comfort and rest;

¹⁹ when it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. — when, or rather, and it shall hail; as my blessings shall be poured down upon my people, who, from a wilderness, are turned into a fruitful field so my judgements shall fall upon them who were a fruitful field but are turned into a forest;

— and the city, Jerusalem, which, though now it was the seat of God’s worship and people, yet he foresaw would be the great enemy of the Messiah; shall be low in a low place; that is, shall be greatly humbled or brought very low.

²⁰ Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. — blessed are ye that sow beside all waters; a golden age of agriculture receives its final touch: the whole land should be irrigated by calmly flowing streams and men should cast their seed broadcast and the oxen and the asses should draw the plough over a rich and fertile land. Amen.

Posted in Isaiah

“Ukraine has biological research facilities, which in fact we are now quite concerned Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach,” said Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, during a Senate hearing on Ukraine; Mar 9, 2022

Tucker Carson on Fox News (Mar 10, 2022) / US Tried to Fund Bio Labs in Ukraine as Early as 2005, Records Show Sputnik International by Tim Korso (Mar 12, 2022)

Ukraine’s Far-Rights threatening to overthrow Government – BBC Newsnight (23/7/2015)

Isaiah 29

¹ “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. — Woe to Ariel, to Ariel; the name interpreted as “the lion of God” or “the hearth of God,” and belongs to the same poetic synonym the Valley of Vision (Psalm 22:1);

— so called because Jerusalem was the place in the observance of the feasts: of the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles; burnt-offering, or of the public worship of God; the place where the Sanctuary is, the Shekinah and fire is, as on a hearth, continually burned on the altar. 

² Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be unto Me as Ariel. — yet God will distress Ariel; or “straiten” it, by causing it to be besieged; and this he would do, notwithstanding their yearly sacrifices and their observance of their solemn feasts;

— and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; on account of the siege; by reason of the devastations of the enemy from outside, invading all the cities and towns in Judea round about; and because of the famine and bloodshed in the city;

— and it shall be unto me as Ariel; the whole city shall be as the altar, a sacrifice; as that was covered with the blood and carcasses of slain beasts, so this with the blood and carcasses of men;

— and so the Targum says, “and I will distress the city where the altar is, and it shall be desolate and empty; and it shall be surrounded before me with the blood of the slain, as the altar is surrounded with the blood of the holy sacrifices on a solemn feast day all around”

— this maybe where Judah shall bear his iniquity for forty days: I have appointed thee a day for a year. Ezekiel 4:4-6 Septuagint. — after the start of the 10 tribes house of Israel and last for 150 years, the house of Judah shall join in for 40 years.

³ And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mound, and I will raise forts against thee. — and God will camp against thee, that is, by those enemies whom God will assist and enable to take and destroy thee; this may refer to different sieges of Jerusalem, that of Sennacherib, that of the Chaldeans to that of the Romans, or even another one at the endtime?

⁴ And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.” — thou shalt be brought down; thy speech shall be low; thou, who now speaks loftily, shalt be humbled, and in a submissive manner, and with a low voice, shalt beg the favour of thine enemies as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground.

⁵ Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. — moreover the multitude of thy enemies shall be like small dust, or fine dust that is easily dissipated by the wind;

— and the multitude of an invading, besieging army, the terrible ones shall be as chaff that are blown away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly; like the forces of Sennacherib were destroyed in a single night by the angel of the Lord.

⁶ Thou shalt be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire. — but thou, that is, Ariel, or Jerusalem, shalt be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire; revisiting of the days before Mount Sinai;

⁷ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her fortifications, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. — and the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, a new revived “Roman army” which consisted of men of all nations, that fought against Jerusalem; the city in which was the altar;

— as the Targum paraphrases it: even all that fight against her and her munition and that distress her; that besieged it and endeavoured to demolish its walls, towns and fortifications as they did; shall quickly fall and pass away and come to nothing, like a dream in the night.

⁸ It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty. Or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold, he is faint and his soul hath appetite. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. — his soul is empty; his appetite or desire is unsatisfied. Or his stomach or body is empty;

— so shall all the multitude from all nations that fight against Mount Zion; either shall quickly perish; or having raised their expectations and pleased themselves with the booty they should obtain, of which they thought themselves sure, shall find themselves mistaken and all like an illusive dream.

⁹ Stay yourselves, and wonder! Cry ye out, and cry! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. — stay yourselves and wonder, stop a while, pause a little; cry ye out and cry: they are drunk but not with wine; they stagger but not with strong drink; consider yourselves the case and circumstances of these people and wonder at their stupidity.

¹⁰ For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath He covered. — the Lord hath poured out upon them the spirit of deep sleep; of spiritual blindness, a reprobate mind, a mind void of sound judgement and sense by their shepherds and the seers;

— a hardness of heart and insensibility to dangers, by their rulers, magistrates and ministers and other chief of the people what we call a judicial blindness that they which see might be made blind against the light.

¹¹ And the vision of all has become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, “Read this, I pray thee”; and he saith, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” — and the vision of all; all the prophetic books, plus the book of Revelations, every vision by these writers; is unto you as the words of a book that is sealed;

— which no man can read while it is sealed up, being in the form of rolls, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, read this, but he replied, I cannot; for it is sealed. Ordinary human learning, without supernatural light, will not be to understand the word of God and things divine.

¹² And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, “Read this, I pray thee”; and he saith, “I am not learned.” — the Scriptures is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned; it is encrypted with signs and symbols, until he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, and only upon God’s spirits, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God; otherwise he would be blinded.

¹³ Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men, — but there are many whose religion is lip-service only, they pretend to be speaking to God, they are pranks, they mix some truths with a thousand foolish things; honouring Astarte from the Egyptians and Mithra from the Persian as they worship the God of Israel according to their own devices.

¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” — therefore, God will proceed to do a marvellous work among these people, perhaps referring to the captivity of Israel for 190 years and Judah 40; even an wonderful work and a wonder:

— for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden, because of their disobedience, idolatry and wickedness, their regard to men’s doctrines and commandments, and not to the will and word of God, therefore he determines “to deal marvellously and a wonder with this people.”

¹⁵ Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord and their works are in the dark, and they say, “Who seeth us?” and, “Who knoweth us?” — woe unto them, or “O ye” that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord; which though they consulted in private, and formed deep schemes, imagining they were not observed by the Lord, yet he that sits in the heaven saw them and laughed at their vain imaginations, Psalm 2:1;

— and their works are in the dark; in the dark night as if the darkness could conceal them from the all seeing eye of God; such works are truly works of darkness but cannot be hidden, though they flatter themselves they will;

— and they muse, Who see us? and who know us? as no man, they imagine, but not God himself could; into such atheism do wicked men sink when desirous of bringing their schemes into execution, they have taken great pains to form; and which they please themselves are so deeply laid as that they cannot fail of succeeding.

¹⁶ Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay; for shall the work say of him that made it, “He made me not”? Or shall the thing formed say of him that formed it, “He had no understanding”? — surely your turning of things upside down is a reinstatement of Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter;

— thus reversing all principles of Godly morality; that is, that excuse the one and reproach the other; that put darkness for light and light for darkness, particularly in palliating the wickedness of sin, in representing avarice, luxury, the lust of the flesh as harmless; and pervert the order which God hath appointed; witness what LGBTQIA lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), intersex, and asexual (or allies) has progressed!

— “He made me not”? shall the potter be counted as the clay? The words bring out the character of the perversity, the upside-downness of which the prophet denounces; the men whom he condemns were inverting the relations of the Creator and the creature, the potter and the clay, acting practically as arrogant atheists, denying that there was a Divine order of which they formed a part.

¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? — Is it not yet a very little while; the projection in time is here foretold, when there would be a strange change and alteration made in the world, and by which it would appear, that the Lord not only knows, but foreknows, all things;

— when Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; that is, that the Gentile world, which was like a forest uncultivated, and full of unfruitful trees, should through the preaching of the Gospel be manured, become God’s husbandry and be like a fruitful field, abounding with people and churches, fruitful and be part of the Kingdom of God.

¹⁸ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. — shall the deaf hear the words of the book; they who now have the Scriptures, its prophecies and concerning the coming of the Messiah; and do not understand it, the people who seem to be deaf to all that God says, shall hear and understand it;

— shall see out of obscurity; that is, their eyes closed and ignorant, the darkness being removed, they shall see clearly the truth of God, and discern and love its beauty. Their eyes are now blinded, but then they shall see clearly.

¹⁹ The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. — the meek, rather, the afflicted, the idea is, virtuous suffering; poor among men, that is, the pious poor; rejoice when they see the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰ For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off — for the terrible one, the violent one, the oppressor, who had exercised cruelty over them, refers to those who held offices of power, and who abused them to oppress the poor and needy;

— and the scorner is consumed; shall be entirely destroyed; and all that watch for iniquity, that is, those who seek anxiously for opportunities to commit iniquity.

²¹ who make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. — that make a man an offender, literally, ‘who cause a man to sin’ who hold a man to be guilty, or a criminal;

— the Targum says, they “that falsely pervert the judgement of the innocent” they that turn away their judgement, decline doing them justice, but condemn them on frivolous pretences.

²² Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. — the One who redeemed Abraham; that is, who brought him out of a land of idolaters, and rescued him from the abominations of idolatry. The word ‘redeem,’ here properly denotes “to ransom, that is, to redeem a captive, or a prisoner with a price paid;

— so Jacob shall not be ashamed, that is, the posterity of Jacob, who had great cause to be ashamed for their infidelity, for their persecutions of God’s prophets and righteous servants, and for their rejection of their own Messiah, who also has redeemed them, shall, at last, be brought back unto the God of their fathers and be their Messiah.

²³ But when he seeth his children, the work of Mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. — when he sees his children; when the believing seed of Jacob see those children, whom they have begotten to God by the preaching of the gospel, even the Gentiles, converted by their ministry;

— the work of mine hands; the children, not of the flesh, but of the promise, whom I, by my almighty power and grace, have created or regenerated, of stones raising up children to Abraham. In the midst of him; which Gentiles shall be incorporated with the Jews into one and the same body and Kingdom;

— they shall sanctify my name; the name Yehovah; they shall not despise and hate the Gentiles, but shall praise and glorify God with them and for them, as all the believing Jews and Gentiles would.

²⁴ They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” — shall learn doctrine; the doctrine of the Messiah, the truth; they “shall receive discipline” or “instruction,” that is, come to understanding and learn true doctrines, the law, and true justice.

Isaiah 30

¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” saith the Lord, “that take counsel, but not of Me, and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; — woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, the house of Jacob, who were the “children” of God, but had turned their backs upon him, and departed from his worship and ordinances; and therefore a woe is pronounced against them;

— that take counsel, but not of me; they met and consulted together about their safety, when in danger, but did not ask counsel of the Lord; they did not consult his word, nor his prophets, nor by Urim and Thummim, as in case of whether to go to war;

— that they may add sin to sin; the sins of rebellion and apostasy: so wicked men, who are enemies in their minds, by wicked works, to God, and commit acts of hostility against him, and are in danger thereby of eternal ruin.

² that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! — they strengthen themselves with the might of Pharaoh, by forming an alliance with Pharaoh, that thus they hoped to repel the threatened invasion, putting their thrust in the emptiness of a shadow.

³ Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. — therefore they shall be disappointed of the help and assistance they expected from him, and be ashamed of their ally and the trust in the shadow of Egypt and their confusion; and be confounded.

⁴ For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. — for Pharaoh’s princes were at Zoan, known as “the royal city of the Pharaohs” which is the same as Tanis, the metropolis of one of the provinces of Egypt; and so the Targum renders it, “Tanes” and the Septuagint version, “Tanis.” The Jews say there is not a more excellent place in all Egypt than Zoan, because kings were brought up in it, as it is said here, “his princes were at Zoan.”

— and more on Zoan: today, Gypsies are known as Roma, but in Hebrew, their name is derived from the Egyptian city of Zoan, or Tanis, at one time the royal and capital of the country; and this is from Wikipedia (Romani people);

The English term Gypsy (or Gipsy) originates from the Middle English gypcian, short for Egipcien.

Hebrew: צוענים‎, romanized: Tzoanim. Derives either from the biblical Egyptian city of Zoan, or from the linguistic root צ־ע־נ‎, meaning “wander.”

— the other called “Hanes” is the same with Tahapanes in Jeremiah 2:16 and Tahpanhes, Jeremiah 43:7 and so the Targum here calls it; it is thought to be the same with Daphnae Pelusiae; here Pharaoh had a house or palace; see Jeremiah 43:9 and this is the reason of the ambassadors (the Jeremiah’s entourage and the king’s daughters, after escaping from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, who smote Gedaliah the governor and who might also kill them) from the “children of God” had gone the;

Ezekiel 29:12 “and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them through the countries.”

⁵ They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame and also a reproach.” — they (Judah’s princes that appeared in Zoan; and his ambassadors in Hanes) were all ashamed of a people (Pharaoh and his princes) that could not help them; the princes, the ambassadors that were sent unto them, and the king or people, or both, that sent them, who hoped for and expected great things from them, but being disappointed, were filled with shame;

— nor be an help, nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach: so far from being of any advantage to them, by helping and assisting them against their enemy, wanting either inclination or capacity, or both, that it not only turned to their shame, but even was matter of reproach to them, that ever they made any application to them, or placed any confidence in them for help.

⁶ The burden of the beasts of the South: Into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. — the burden of the beasts of the south, the word ‘south’ here refers doubtless to the country to the south of Judea; and particularly to Egypt;

— from whence come the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery flying serpent; creatures with which Egypt abounded as historians relate and where some of them at least were worshipped and where also men dwelt comparable to these creatures as for craft and cruelty.

⁷ For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose; therefore have I cried to her concerning this, “Their strength is to sit still.” — for the Egyptians shall help in vain; that is, if they enter into the alliance, they shall not be able to defend you from the invader, though they may make a show of help and attempted to help them or seemed to do so, yet failed to do it;

— their strength is to sit still; either concerning this embassy, that it would be better for the ambassadors to have spared all their toil and labour and strength and have remained quiet and easy in their own country than going down to Egypt.

⁸ Now go, write it before them on a tablet and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever, — now go, write it before them; write this prophecy and warning, which Isaiah have now delivered, in their presence; in a table and in a book;

— so it was to be written twice over, once in a table, to be hung up in some public place, for the people then at that time might read it; and again in a book, that it might be kept for the use of posterity; that is to us at a latter day, because prophecies are often dual in purposes;

— that it may be for the time to come, as a witness for me and against them, that God have given them fair warning, and they have wilfully run upon their own ruin; so the Targum confirms, “and it shall be in the day of judgement for a witness before me for ever.”

⁹ that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, — that they are lying children, who tell lies as easily as one breaths; and lied and were guilty of lying, not only to God but to one another; they that will not hear the law of the Lord, the commands of God, either contained in the Scriptures, or delivered by the mouth of the prophets, whereby these warnings are expressly concerning them;

¹⁰ who say to the seers, “See not,” and to the prophets, “Prophesy not unto us right things; speak unto us smooth things; prophesy deceits. — speak unto us smooth things; that is, those things which are in accordance with our feelings, prejudices and desires; which assure us of prosperity and success and which will not disturb us with the apprehension of punishment;

— prophesy deceits, not that they would openly and avowedly demand to be deceived, but they demanded that which the prophet says would be deceits. No man “professedly” desires to be deceived; yet many a man is willing to put himself under that kind of teaching which is deceit and which he might know to be falsehood if he would examine it.

¹¹ Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” — Get ye out of the way: turn aside out of the path; these two expressions mean one and the same thing; either that the prophets would go out of their usual way of threatening ruin and destruction;

— or that they would go out of the way of the people, and not stand in it to hinder them pursuing their own lusts and pleasures; or that they would go out of the right way, in their ways: cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us; do not so often make mention of his name, or come to us with a “thus saith the Lord”; let us hear no more of him; as the Targum says, “remove far from us the word of the Holy One of Israel.”

¹² Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: “Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stand thereon,

¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. — therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, or “as a falling breach” contempt of the word of God, rejecting the counsel of God, these would be the cause of ruin; signified by the breach of a falling wall or by a breach in a wall, by reason of which it is in danger of falling and is just ready to fall.

¹⁴ And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter’s vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare, so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit.” — that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare; or that is broken in pieces without mercy, as the Targum says; no pity shall be shown by the enemy nor mercy from the Lord.

¹⁵ For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; but ye would not. — in returning and rest shall ye be saved; or “may be saved” namely, by “returning” from their evil ways and to his worship and ordinances; and so the Targum says, “if ye return to my law.”

¹⁶ But ye said, ‘No, for we will flee upon horses’; therefore shall ye flee! And, ‘We will ride upon the swift’; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift! — but ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses to get help and assistance; and then face the enemy;

— therefore shall they that pursue you be swift; yea, swifter than the horses and camels they rode on and overtake them and either put them to death or carry them captive.

¹⁷ One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee, till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain and as an ensign on a hill.” — at the rebuke of one, the number one here is put to denote a very small number; a number in the ordinary course of warfare entirely disproportionate to those who would be vanquished, which is a reference here to the prediction in Deuteronomy 32:30;

— and as an ensign on a hill; the idea is that those who should escape would be few in number, a remnant and would stand alone, as a beacon in view of all the nations, to admonish them of the justice of God and the truth of his threats, like an ensign floating on a hill that can be seen from afar.

¹⁸ And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgement; blessed are all they that wait for Him. — His waiting is very patient; the divine husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it. How wonderful that in a very real sense He attends on our pleasure, as it were, and lets us determine His time to work.

¹⁹ For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee. — for the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, or “for the people of Zion shall dwell in Jerusalem” those that belonged to the fort of Zion should dwell in Jerusalem, or “abide” there, both they and the inhabitants of it, at least many of them should quietly continue there, waiting the Lord’s time to appear for them;

— although the time is coming when the people shall be banished from Jerusalem and carried into captivity; yet after a set time they shall return and have a fixed and comfortable abode in Jerusalem, the seat of their religion, and metropolis of their Kingdom.

²⁰ And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teacher. — and though the Lord give you the bread of adversity; the bread that is eaten in a time of calamity; that is, he would bring upon them sore distress and wan; the water of affliction, ‘oppression.’ That is, water drank in times of affliction and oppression, or in the long and weary days of captivity;

— Rashi: your Teacher: The Holy One, blessed be He, who teaches you for your profit.

²¹ And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, “This is the way; walk ye in it,” when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left. — it seems best to understand the Scriptures of truth as the word of God, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; it directs to the Messiah the way, and who is the only way of life and which is the right way; so the Targum paraphrases it, “this is the right way.”

²² Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver and the ornament of thy molten images of gold. Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, “Get thee hence.” — ye shall show your contempt of it; defile the covering of thy graven images; the leaves or plates, wherewith their wooden images were frequently covered: and the ornament of thy molten images;

— or, thy coat, or covering; the ephod, a costly and glorious robe. The images also were of gold: for thou shalt cast them away; thou shalt so deeply abhor idolatry that thou shalt cast away, with indignation, “Get thee hence.”

²³ Then shall He give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground therewith, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. — then shall he give the rain of thy seed; that is, he shall send rain on the seed which is sown; and you will be allowed to cultivate the soil without molestation, and God will give you fruitful seasons and abundant harvests;

— the Targum interprets it thus, “and the righteous shall be nourished with their cattle at that time, with the fat of tender and fat things” as the earth would be fruitful, the cattle would be well fed; and so there would be plenty of provision for man and beast.

²⁴ The oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. — the Septuagint renders it, “they shall eat chaff mixed with winnowed barley” but if they were to eat chaff with it, there would be no need to winnow it.

²⁵ And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. — in the day of the great slaughter; when the enemies of the people of God shall have been destroyed; probably in a time subsequent to the slaughter of the army of the Assyrians as a historical type, and so, perhaps, awaiting a prophetic one.

²⁶ Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people and healeth the stroke of their wound. — moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun; an hyperbolical expression, used to set forth the exceeding great light, comparable to the moon, immeasurable as the light of the sun exceeds the light of the moon;

— and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold; as if the light of seven days was collected together; or as if there were seven suns shining together. The Targum not only makes it to be seven times seven, that is, forty nine; but multiply forty nine by seven, and make it three hundred and forty three or as the light of so many days.

²⁷ Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy; His lips are full of indignation and His tongue as a devouring fire. — behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, it is introduced with a “behold” as declaring something of importance worthy of attention, and even wonderful;

— burning with anger; against his army, the kings of the earth; his “eyes” shall be “as a flame of fire” and when he comes to judge the world, he will descend in “flaming fire”, Revelation 19:12 the day of the Lord will burn as an oven, Malachi 4:1.

²⁸ And His breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. — the breath of his nostrils or the blast of the breath of his nostrils; in both instances it is a sign and effect of God’s anger and the cause of the destruction of those against whom it is directed;

— to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity; that is, the breath, wind or spirit of the Lord, compared to an overflowing stream should have this effect to sift the people of several nations so as to dash them one against another and utterly destroy them; for they were to be sifted, not with a good and profitable sieve, which retains the corn and shakes out the chaff or so as to have some taken out and spared; but with a sieve that lets all through and so be brought to nothing.

²⁹ Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. — ye shall have a song; that is, ye inhabitants of Jerusalem shall rejoice when the army of the Assyrian, or another prophetic one, is destroyed;

— as in the night when a solemnity is kept; the word ‘solemnity’ here (חג châg) denotes a festival, or feast; and refers by way of eminence to the Passover where the “death angels” passed, which is usually designated as “the feast” that is, the principal festival of God’s people.

³⁰ And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones. — His glorious voice; his thunder, which is Called God’s voice, and said to be full of majesty, Psalm 29:4. But then thunder is metaphorically taken for God’s judgement;

— and tempest and hailstones; it is rare that a storm of hail would be severe enough to destroy an army. But in this case, storms of hail are not unfrequently of sufficient violence to do it if the army were encamped in the open field something could fall from the heavens with a heavy splash; they were large balls of ice falling.

³¹ For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, who smote with a rod. — which smote with a rod; who was accustomed to smite as with a rod; as an instrument in God’s hand; that is, his government was tyrannical and severe; as he had been accustomed to smite in that manner, so he would now meet the proper reward of his oppression of the nations.

³² And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with taborets and harps; and in battles of weapon shaking will He fight with it. — it shall be with tabrets and harps; that is, at every stroke of God’s judgements upon God’s enemies, Israel should raise its song of triumph with the timbrels and harps.

³³ For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared. He hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. —Tophet, literally, “A place of abomination” the valley of the sons of Hinnom, southeast of Jerusalem, where Israel offered human sacrifices to Moloch by fire; hence a place of burning;

— the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it; the pile of fire and wood; the Targum says, “the word of the Lord, like an overflowing torrent of brimstone, shall kindle it.”

Posted in Isaiah

George Kennan, the top American-Russia scholar who laid the foundation for US Cold War foreign-policy strategy, said NATO’s expansion into Central Europe in the 1990s was “the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era.” He warned that expanding NATO would damage the US-Russia relationship so deeply that Russia would never become a partner and would remain an enemy.

The US Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991 penned an essay nine days before the invasion, answering the question of whether the brewing crisis was, at that point, avoidable. “In short, yes,” he explained. On whether it was predictable, “Absolutely. NATO expansion was the most profound strategic blunder made since the end of the Cold War.” RT by Bradley Blankenship 4 Mar, 2022.

Isaiah 27

¹ In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. — the “dragon” is as in Psalm 74:13-14; Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2, could be the standing emblem of Egypt: the other, so specifically mentioned, the “leviathan” in Job 41:1, there is always a possibility of an endtime revelation, that is, it could be real!

² In that day sing ye unto her, “A vineyard of red wine! — in that day sing ye to her: a vineyard of red wine; meaning, of the best wine, which this vineyard, that is, the Kingdom would bring forth as pleasing to the Lord.

³ I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment. Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. — I the Lord do keep it; it is understood here or implied as ‘Yehovah said’ (compare Psalm 121:3-5); I will water it every moment; that is, constantly, as a vinedresser does his vineyard.

⁴ Fury is not in Me. Who would set the briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them; I would burn them together. — Fury is not in me; Or, wrath have I none; that is, wrath isn’t a natural character of God, but because of briers and thorns, symbols of God’s enemies (sins and wickedness), against Me, I am provoked into anger and fury and burn them together.

⁵ Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” — Or let my enemies take hold of my strength, that they may make peace with me; and they shall find peace with me.

⁶ He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. — Or, In the days that come Jacob shall strike root;

— Israel shall blossom with bud and fill the face of the world with fruit; in all parts of the world; or of the great number of converts made everywhere; so the Targum says, by “fruit” to mean children’s children; the sense is, that when the Kingdom of God is settled and established, grounded in the right doctrines of truth, it shall be flourishing and fruitful, abounding in good works and with increased numbers of converts;

— it shall be like the mustard tree, when it becomes so great a tree as that the birds of the air make their nests in it; and as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, when it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth.

⁷ Hath He smitten him, as He smote those that smote him? Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? — that is, “Hath He (Yehovah) smitten him (Israel) as He smote those that smote him; or is he slain according to the slaughter of those that are slain by Him?”

⁸ In measure, when it shooteth forth, Thou wilt debate with it; He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind. — Rashid: when they sent them out, it strove with it: When Egypt sent Israel out, it strove with it, the seah of the measure with its seah; He spoke with His harsh wind: (הָגָה) He spoke with His harsh speech; on the day of the east wind: On the day (concerning which Scripture states) (Ex. 14:21): “And the Lord led the sea with a strong east wind.”

⁹ By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin: When he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten asunder, the Asherah poles and sun images shall not stand up. — by this therefore; by this manner of God’s dealing with his people shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged;

— the groves and the images shall not stand up; erect to be worshipped; but shall be thrown down, demolished and broke to pieces; and by thus abandoning their idols and idolatrous practices;

— sun images shall not stand up; today we are honouring the host of heaven with more than 98.5 percent of Christians honouring the Sun by observing Sunday worship. They have “their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the SUN toward the east; whose Godly penalty is to be “cut off” to death (Deuteronomy 17:3-5) – ’till they die’ or ”shall not stand up.”

¹⁰ Yet the fortified city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down and consume the branches thereof. — yet the fortified city; most probably this means Jerusalem, shall be desolate.

¹¹ When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women come and set them on fire, for it is a people of no understanding. Therefore He that made them will not have mercy on them, and He that formed them will show them no favor. — for it is a people of no understanding; and may be applied as Isaiah 1:3; Jeremiah 8:7; Deuteronomy 32:28, to Israel as an apostate;

— will not have mercy; will show them no favor; that is, “will not spare.” God will have “measure” and “mercy” in his punishment of Israel but will not so have mercy as not to punish severely.

¹² And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. — from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt; from Euphrates to the Niles, which were the two borders of the Land of Promise, Joshua 1:4. All the Israelites which are left in the land; which are here opposed to those of them that are dispersed into foreign parts, such as Assyria and Egypt.

¹³ And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. — In the land of Assyria, the ten tribes were carried away in II Kings 17:6; and it is probable that many of the other two tribes were also with them. A portion of the ten tribes would also be re-gathered, and would return with the others to the land of their fathers upon the blowing of the trumpet.

Isaiah 28

The twenty-eighth through thirty-third chapters form almost one continuous prophecy concerning the destruction of intoxicated Ephraim, the impiety and folly of Judah, their dangers to make allies with Egypt or Assyria.

¹ Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which is on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! — that is, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, the proud state and kingdom of the ten tribes. This pride is about Ephraim, the United States: “But if we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future, and we see the danger here to all of us,” Madeleine Albright; and the many and excellent vines among them, showing that the prophet’s work was not limited to Judah and Jerusalem, but extended to the northern kingdom, Israel;

— parallel Scriptures in Ezekiel 36: “the mountain of Israel” this prophecy is concerning the desolations of the United States, UK and France; “and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys” these are the hills: Ireland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Finland and Iceland; and the valleys, the low countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg;

— shoot forth your branches; that is, the trees that grew upon them should; the vines, and the olive trees, planted on hills and mountains; these are their colonies: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa; American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands (US); Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Virgin Islands (UK); Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Mayotte, Réunion (France).

— is a fading flower; beauty “whose glorious beauty or ornament is a fading flower” – the image of “drunkards” it was the custom at feasts to wreathe with flowers; so this indispensable Ephraim stood upon the head of the fertile valley,” that is, situated on a hill surrounded with the rich valleys as the best of a garland; but that garland is “fading,” and this intoxicated Ephraim is now close to ruin, not to be depended upon, soon to be destroyed and discarded away quickly.

² Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. — behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one; they have a powerful king with a mighty army; which as a tempest of hail; that beats down herbs and plants, and branches of trees, men and beasts:

— and a destroying storm; which carries all before it, blows down houses and trees, and makes terrible devastation wherever it comes: as a flood of mighty waters overflowing; whose torrent is so strong there is no stopping it;

— the Targum says, “so shall people come against them, and remove them out of their own land into another land, because of the sins which were in their hands.”

³ The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet; — so this mighty and powerful prince shall cast down upon intoxicated Ephraim, the crown of pride, the people of Israel, and the king of it; he shall take the crown from his head, and cast it to the ground with a strong hand;

⁴ and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower and as the early fruit before the summer, which when he that looketh upon it seeth; while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. — and the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley; meaning the riches and fruitfulness of the ten tribes, and especially of Ephraim the head of them:

— shall be a fading flower; as before declared, Isaiah 28:1 and here repeated to show the certainty of it, and to awaken their attention to it; and as the hasty fruit before the summer; the first ripe fruit, that which is ripe before the summer fruits in common are; the Septuagint render it the first ripe fig; and so the Targum: which when he that looks upon it sees it; that it is goodly and desirable, and so gathers it, Micah 7:1;

— while it is yet in his hand he eats it up; and as soon as he has got it into his hand, he cannot keep it there to look at, or forbear eating it, but greedily devours and swallows it down at once; denoting what a desirable prey the ten tribes would be to their enemies from the South, and how swift, sudden and inevitable would be their destruction.

⁵ In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of His people, — in that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people, signifying that the faithful who do not put their trust in any worldly prosperity but made God their glory, will be honoured with a diadem of beauty.

⁶ and for a spirit of judgement to him that sits in judgement, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. — and for a spirit of judgement to him that sit in judgement; that is, the Lord would give honour and glory to the people in general, so wisdom and prudence, a spirit of judgement and discerning, to those who sit in the Sanhedrin in particular, who sit to do justice, and execute judgement among their subjects;

— and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate; as wisdom is promised to the king and judges, so strength of body and mind, valour and courage, to the prince and his army; so that they should turn the battle, and cause their enemies to flee before them, and pursue them to the very gates of their cities.

⁷ But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgement. — but they have erred through wine; through strong drink are out of the way;

— the priest, to whom strong drink was expressly forbidden, the prophet; the teachers, they run into the same excess of wine and strong drink, whereby they besot themselves and fall into numerous errors; they err and stumble in judgement; their intoxicated shepherds mistake in the teaching, pronouncing and discharging the sentence of the law.

⁸ For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. — the subject is still the drunkards of Ephraim; so that there is no place clean or free from vomit and filthiness, no table, or part of one, of prince, prophet, priest, and people; the Targum adds, “pure from rapine or violence.”

⁹ “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. — whom shall he teach knowledge? – not the drunken priest or prophet, who were both unfit for teaching men knowledge; but either the true priest or prophet of the Lord, or the Lord himself; these are of age and free; and not subjected to false doctrines; there among his people that are capable and willing to be taught the good knowledge of God.

¹⁰ For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.” — for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, signifying, that a single concept must be dealt with as children do, from the letter a and then b when first instructed in the rudiments of a language, then one rule given and then another, and so one after another, until letter z, till they have gone through the whole:

— line upon line, line upon line; who are taught first to write one line, and then another; or to draw one line and write after that and then another; or where to begin one line and when finished where to begin another;

— here a little, and there a little; a verse or two on the same subject here (like studying the subject of Ephraim) out of one book and a similar subject out of another; a little a day and a little the next and so on, that the whole picture may not be overburdened at once.

¹¹ For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people, — with stammering lips in and another tongue by people of a strange language, whom God will bring them into whose power He will deliver them; will He speak to this people; this is because they are not hearing Him speaking now by His prophets in their own language, they shall hear their enemies speaking to them in a strange language. In misery of the house of Jacob, during their captivity, a time of Jacob’s trouble, that they may then be compelled to understand the language of their enemies.

¹² to whom He said, “This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing” — yet they would not hear. — to whom he said, the Lord himself, or the prophet Isaiah; so the Targum says, “to whom the prophets said” that is, the true prophets of the Lord said to the people, as follows:

— this is the rest for those weary to rest: and this is the refreshing: that is, by teaching the word of God, the true knowledge of him, and the sound doctrines; this would be the best way of refreshing the minds and health of the people, burdened, distressed and disconsolate through afflictions and calamities upon them, preserving them from captivity, and other judgements;

— yet they would not hear; having no regard to the Lord and his prophets; nor any compassion to their countrymen, afflicted and distressed in mind or body; nor to the true knowledge of God.

¹³ But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little, that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken. — but the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept; which were despised and derided by them; they took the prophet’s words out of context, and in a scoffing manner repeating them;

— precept upon precept, precept upon precept; the words may be rendered, “though the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept” which were delivered in a plain and easy a manner to understand, yet so stupid were they as not to receive those precepts, and so perverse and stubborn as wilfully to reject them; hence they were given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart;

— that they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken: that they may fall backward, backslide from God, and be broken; and be ensnared and taken in a net by their enemies and again be carried away into captivity; and then be dispersed among the nations.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem, — the prophet, Isaiah, now directly attacks the great men of Jerusalem, as being the leaders in crime, and as being eminently deserving of the wrath of God.

¹⁵ because ye have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.” — we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement: as safe from death and secure from hell or the grave, as if a covenant and compact had been formally entered into between them. The phrases are expressive of their being fearless of them, and of their confidence and assurance that they should not be hurt by them;

— for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves; not what they themselves reckoned so, but what the prophet Isaiah or the Lord by him, called so, whose words they used and in whose language they spoke; meaning either their lying prophets and the false doctrines they delivered to them, promising them peace when destruction was at hand; or their idols which are falsehood and lying vanities; or their carnal policy, and crafty methods of acting with their enemies;

— by which they hoped to deceive them; or else their wealth and riches, got by lying, stealing and fraud; and perhaps all may be intended in which they might put their trust and confidence and on account of them expect security from threatened evils, though no other than lies and falsehood; and the same may be observed of all outward acts of religion, rites, ceremonies and works of righteousness done by men, in which they place their trust and hope to be saved by them from wrath to come;

— this verse describes America’s most prominent lying secretary of state in history, Mike Pompeo: “I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole,” former CIA director and now Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on April 15, 2019 at a forum at Texas A&M University, TX. “It was like – we had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.” Interestingly, a Christian religious news broadcaster picked up on Pompeo’s words and described it with such precision as follows: “that’s not the resume of the Secretary of State… that’s the resume of Satan.”

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste. — behold, the one foundation on which building, we can build secure, and safe as well as secure, is that foundation which is laid in the Messiah, the Son of God, a tested stone, a precious stone, a stone that has borne all the weight that the world has laid upon it, and borne it up;

— cornerstone; uniting the several parts of the building together, making Ephraim and Judah, now sadly divided, one stick; and Jews and Gentiles, now implacable enemies, one church, one people and one Kingdom.

¹⁷ Judgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. — Judgement also will I lay to the line; that is, God will execute just judgement, as it were by a line and plummet annexed to it; that is, with exactness and care. I will severely punish and utterly destroy all who reject that stone;

— and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, the lies they made their refuge; God’s judgements, which in the Scriptures are compared to a storm of hail or rain, shall discover the vanity of all their crafty and wicked devices and shall sweep them away by the rushing waters that shall flush them out from their hiding places.

¹⁸ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. — disannulled; made void, or of none effect; it shall stand you in no stead; ye shall be trodden down by it; which you flattered yourselves that it should not come unto you, would be thrown down and trampled upon by it as the mire of the streets.

¹⁹ From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you, for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.” — from the time that it goes forth it shall take you; as soon as this overflowing scourge or judgement shall go forth; into the land, it shall take or seize upon you scoffers, or carry you away, which agrees with the metaphor of a flood;

— morning by morning it shall pass over; it shall not only come to you, contrary to your presumption, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning; and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite.

²⁰ For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. — for the bed is shorter; that is, for those lying refuges, to which they trust, will not be able to give them the protection which they expect from them;

²¹ For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim; He shall be wroth as in the Valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work, and bring to pass His act, His strange act. — the Lord shall rise up as in Mt Perazim, the point of the reference to David’s victories at Baal Perazim (1 Chronicles 14:11), and at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 14:16) is that then Jehuah had interposed on behalf of His people against their enemies. The “new and strange” work, the very paradox of prophecy, was that He would now rise up to overthrow His own people.

²² Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consuming even determined upon the whole earth. — now therefore be not mockers, for their own sakes do not make a mock of God’s word and threats, lest their bands be made strong, more sure and unavoidable, and more severe and terrible, as bands are when they are tied faster and more strongly upon a prisoner;

— for I have heard from the Lord a consumption; God hath assured Isaiah that he will utterly root out the people of Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes; and the Jews, the kingdom of the two tribes, even the whole earth.

²³ Give ye ear and hear my voice; hearken and hear my speech. — therefore, give ear, and hear my voice, so said the prophet because what he was about to say was of importance and required attention.

²⁴ Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? — do the ploughman plough all day to sow? Or “every day” he ploughs in order to sow; by ploughing he prepares the ground for sowing; and he does not plough every day in the year; he has other work besides ploughing; such as breaking of clods, sowing seed and threshing the grain after it is ripe, reaped and gathered. 

²⁵ When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the dill and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place? — as the plowman has his appointed time and various instruments for his labour, so has the Lord for his selection: for he selects and punishes some at one time and some at another; some after one sort and some after another, so that his chosen seed is beaten and tried, but not broken as are the wicked.

²⁶ For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. — for his God gives the husbandman instruction and discretion how to sow his seed at what time and in a proper place; for this refers to what goes before and after; threshing or beating out of corn, according to his knowledge and discretion God teaches him.

²⁷ For the dill is not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the dill is beaten out with a staff and the cummin with a rod. — the lesson of the parable is that it comes to nations and individuals in season and in measure in bringing in the minute details and drawing this lesson from them; that the method suitable to one kind of grain would be ruinous to another; and that even the rougher methods are applied with moderation.

²⁸ Bread corn is beaten, because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. — “bread corn” of the wheat or barley is beaten, for this a severer chastisement, a more thorough threshing is needed; but the end of threshing is the preservation not the destruction of the grain.

²⁹ This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. —in counsel and in giving counsel to man, this cometh from the Lord of hosts; all this wisdom the husbandman has, in manuring his ground, in sowing it with proper seed and in threshing it out in a manner suitable to it, agriculture or husbandry, even among the heathens, is always ascribed to God as an invention of his and it was the first work which God put man to, and instructed him as all other arts and sciences that come from God.

Posted in Isaiah

The Russian bear seems to have bitten a porcupine which has now got stuck to its mouth, unable to swallow it nor to dislodge it, creating lots of distractions.

Many believe Russia was and still is the main threat to the United States. Others, like warmonger John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, give incredible speeches around the world saying China is the main enemy.

And Mearsheimer brilliantly emphasizes the United States are protected by fish to the left and fish to the right, but foolishly negates to address America’s broken border in the South; and that the Scriptures say that America’s main “enemy” comes from the unprotected and porous South! (for more, click here)

Isaiah 25

¹ O Lord, Thou art my God. I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name, for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. — O Yehovah, thou art my God — In covenant with me: my friend, my father, my portion. Isaiah speaks in the name of the whole elect. I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name, Yehovah. Those that have Yehovah for their God are in duty bound to praise him;

— for thou hast done wonderful things. Thy counsels of old, signifying not only counsels long before taken, but which thou hast from time to time revealed to thy prophets, which were of old, being conceived from all eternity, are true and firm, and shall certainly be accomplishe;

— God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; more on this at the end).

² For Thou hast made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be rebuilt. — Thou hast made of a city an heap; the city spoken of as “the palace of strangers” was, probably identified with the oppressors and destroyers of his people—that is, Nineveh, Babylon or Rome; but that city was also for him the representation of the world-power which in every age opposes to the Kingdom of God;

— it shall never be rebuilt; their cities and palaces have been or shall be utterly and irrecoverably destroyed.

³ Therefore shall the strong people glorify Thee; the city of the terrible nations shall fear Thee. — therefore shall the strong people fear thee; thy stoutest enemies, observing thy wonderful works, shall be forced to tremble before thee.

⁴ For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. — for thou hast been a strength to the poor; hast defended thy poor and helpless people against the fiercest assaults of their enemies.

⁵ Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place, even the heat with the shadow of a cloud; the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. — Thou shalt bring down the noise; the tumult; the sound which they make in entering into battle; or the note of triumph, and the sound of revelry.

⁶ And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. — and in this mountain, that is, in Mount Zion, Jerusalem, very frequently meant by the names of Zion and Jerusalem; a feast of fat things, of the ultimate glory of the saints in heaven; which is sometimes represented by a feast; and the participation of it, by sitting down with the saints at a table in the kingdom of God, and by drinking wine there.

⁷ And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. — this mountain, in Mount Zion; the covering of the face, or the veil, of their ignorance of God, and of the truth; cast over all people; which then was upon the Gentiles and all people. This is a manifest prophecy concerning the illumination and conversion of the Gentiles;

— For I, brethren, would not have you be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Romans 11:25

⁸ He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. — He will swallow up death in victory, or rather, He will abolish death for ever;

— and will wipe away tears; take away from his people all sufferings and sorrows, with all the causes of them, which deliverance is begun here and perfected in heaven. The rebuke of his people; the reproach and contempt cast upon his faithful people;

— for the Lord hath spoken it; therefore doubt it not, though it seem incredible to you.

⁹ And it shall be said in that day: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” — it shall be said in that day; the speakers are obviously the company of the redeemed, the citizens of new Jerusalem;

— we have waited for him; amidst many trials, persecutions, and calamities, we have looked for the coming of our God to deliver us, and we will rejoice in the salvation that he brings.

¹⁰ For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under Him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. — for in this mountain, in Mount Zion, Jerusalem, God will dwell with men again, in his new Sanctuary;

— and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill; by Moab are meant all the enemies of his Kingdom.

¹¹ And He shall spread forth His hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim; and He shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. — the Septuagint renders it, ‘Upon whatsoever he lays his hands,’ that is, God shall humble the pride of Moab in respect to everything on which he shall lay his hands;

— the word signifies snares, ambushes, craft; and then by the plunder or spoils which he had obtained by snares and ambushes; that is, their “craftily acquired spoils” would all perish with Moab and the land would thus be completely subdued.

¹² And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall He bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. — and the fortress of the high fort of thy walls; as interpreted to be Moab as the stronghold of the nations. Beyond this they predict a like destruction of every stronghold, every rock-built fortress of the great world-power of which Moab was for the time only a type.

Isaiah 26

¹ In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. — the prophet Isaiah appears once more as in the character of a psalmist, that the land of Judah is destined for nothing less than the worship of the heavenly King; the walls of the city are not built of stone or brick, but are themselves as a living force; there is no need for other defenses.

² Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. — open the gates of the celestial city, New Jerusalem. The righteous nation which keeps the truth; literally, a righteous nation; and these will be a set of men that “will keep the truth” or as the Targum renders it,” who keep the law with a perfect heart,” that is, the truth is about keeping the law, the perfect law, which is the truth.

³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. — thou wilt keep him, etc; literally, the steadfast mind thou wilt keep in peace, in peace; that is “in perfect peace”  peace at all times, and under all circumstances; thou shalt preserve (it, namely, the righteous nation) in perpetual peace.”

⁴ Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. — trust ye in the Lord for ever; the sense is, ‘Let your confidence in God on no occasion fail. Let no calamity, no adversity, no persecution, no poverty, no trial of any kind, prevent your reposing entire confidence in him.’ 

⁵ For He bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, He layeth it low; He layeth it low, even to the ground; He bringeth it even to the dust. — for he will bring down them that dwell on high, the lofty city, so the accents require the words to be rendered; and accordingly the Targum is, “for he will bring low the inhabitants of the high and strong city” he layeth it low: he layeth it low, even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust; all which expressions denote their utter destruction.

⁶ The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy.” — the foot shall tread it down; trample upon it when brought down, laid low, and level with the ground, as mire is trodden in the streets, and straw for the dunghill; as grapes in the winepress, or grass by the feet of cattle;

— the righteous as the Targum paraphrases it; the saints of the most High, to whom the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven will now be given, and who will be just come out of great tribulation.

⁷ The way of the just is uprightness; Thou, Most Upright, dost weigh the path of the just. — the way of the just is righteousness; the just proceed steadily on in the practice of the various duties of righteousness, which they owe to God and man.

⁸ Yea, in the way of Thy judgements, O Lord, have we waited for Thee; the desire of our soul is to Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee. — to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee; the “name” of God is, as always, that of Yehovah.  God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; more on this at the end).

⁹ With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early; for when Thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. — with my soul have I desired Thee in the night; by desiring God in the night (in captivity), and by seeking him early, is meant that the desire to seek him was unremitted and constant. The prophet speaks of the pious Jews who were in captivity in Babylon; and says that it was the object of their unremitted anxiety to please God, and to do his will.

¹⁰ Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. — let favour be showed to the wicked; if thou dost spare them, when thou chastise thy own people, and grant them health, prosperity and other blessings; yet will they not learn righteousness, they will not be led to repentance by thy goodness; and therefore it is requisite thou shouldest send thy judgements.

¹¹ Lord, when Thy hand is lifted up, they will not see; but they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of Thine enemies shall devour them. — when the arm of the Almighty, the symbol of His power, was simply lifted up for the protection of His people, the evildoers closed their eyes and would not see it. A time will come when judgements shall fall on them, and so they shall be made to see;

— the Targum says, “Lord, when thou shall be revealed in thy power to do good to them that fear thee, there will be no light to the enemies of thy people” but they shall see; whether they will or not; the judgements of God will be manifest, both in his vengeance and in glorifying his own people.

¹² Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us. — Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; that is, henceforth thou wilt give us an existence of perfect peace, untroubled by adversaries. For thou also hast wrought all our works for us. The “work” intended seems to be the work of deliverance.

¹³ O Lord our God, other lords besides Thee have had dominion over us; but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy name. — but by thee only will we make mention of thy name; this may be better rendered, ‘but only thee, thy name will we henceforward commemorate.’ 

— God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; more on this at the end)

¹⁴ They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast Thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. — they shall not rise; those tyrants and enemies are utterly and irrecoverably destroyed, so as they shall never live or rise again to molest us; the Targum says, “they worship the dead, who do not live; and their mighty men, who shall not rise;”

— destroyed them and made all their memory to perish; thou hast destroyed both them and theirs, and all the monuments or memorials of their greatness and glory.

¹⁵ Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, Thou hast increased the nation. Thou art glorified; Thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. — Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation; the righteous nation, Isaiah 26:2 the Kingdom of God by the numerous conversions of Jews and Gentiles; when the Kingdom of God shall be born and the fulness and forces of the Gentiles are brought in.

¹⁶ Lord, in trouble have they visited Thee, they poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them. — O Lord, amidst the various calamities brought upon them for their correction and especially in their captivity, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

¹⁷ As a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs, so have we been in Thy sight, O Lord. — like as a woman with child; by this simile are set forth the great distresses and afflictions of the birth of the Kingdom of God before redemption and deliverance before the yoke comes.

¹⁸ We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. — we have been with child; like women with child, we have been full of hopes and expectations of great things, of deliverance from our enemies, and of the kingdom of God being at hand.

¹⁹ Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. — the answer to these utterances of disappointed hopes is the promise of the Resurrection.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be past. — when dangers threaten, it is good to retire and lie hid; when we commend ourselves to God to hide us, he will hide us somewhere under heaven or in heaven. Thus we shall be safe and happy in the midst of tribulations. It is but for a short time, as it were for a little moment; when over, it will seem as nothing. 

²¹ For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. — for, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. The earth will vomit and cast out the innocent blood, which it has drunk, that it may care for vengeance against the wicked.

~~~

More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late comer.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name. Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

Posted in Isaiah

A Sword from the South!

Who are the enemies that will desolate the house of Israel, identified here as the United States? Many believe Russia was and some still believe it is the main threat of the United States. Others, like warmonger John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, give incredible speeches around the world saying China is the main threat.

And Mearsheimer brilliantly emphasizes the United States are protected by fish to the left and fish to the right, but foolishly negates to address America’s broken border in the South; and that the Scriptures say that America’s main “enemy” comes from the unprotected and porous South.

Isaiah 23

¹ The burden of Tyre: Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in; from the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. — Tyre was a ancient city in Phoenicia, which exceeded in renown and grandeur all the cities of Syria and Phoenicia and was much known for its trade and navigation, for which it was well situated by the sea; and indeed new Tyre stood today. 

² Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle, thou whom the merchants of Sidon that pass over the sea have replenished. — thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished; Sidon was a very ancient city of Phoenicia, more ancient than Tyre.

³ And by great waters the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. — and by great waters the seed of Sihor; which is the river Nile in Egypt; it had its name from the black colour of its waters;

— harvest of the river—the growth of the Delta; the produce due to the overflow of the Nile: Egypt was the great granary of corn in the ancient world; She is a mart of nations; how true this was: no place was more favorably situated for commerce; and she had engrossed the trade nearly of all the world.

⁴ Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, “I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men nor bring up virgins.” — be thou ashamed, O Sidon, a city about twenty five miles from Tyre; Tyre is called the daughter of Sidon, Isaiah 23:12; these two cities were closely allied and traded much with one another, so that the fall of Tyre must be distressing and confounding to Sidon; and besides, Tyre was a colony of the Sidonians.

⁵ As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. — the Targum says, “as they heard the plague with which the Egyptians were smitten” so shall they be sorely pained at Tyre; because of their inter-trade and the judgments of Egypt has upon their neighbours.

⁶ Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle! — the Tyrians fled to Carthage and elsewhere, both at the siege under Nebuchadnezzar and that under Alexander; pass ye over to Tarshish either to Tartessus in Spain, or to Tarsus in Cilicia, which lay over to the north of Tyre and to which they might transport and trade with greater ease; or “to a province of the sea” as the Targum indicates, any other seaport; the Septuagint says to Carthage, which was a colony of the Tyrians.

⁷ Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. — is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city (Isa 23:12)? antiquity; the Tyrian priests boasted in Herodotus’ time that their city had already existed 2300 years: an exaggeration, but still implying that it was ancient even then; her own feet—walking on foot as captives to an enemy’s land.

⁸ Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? — “The Lord of hosts” who answered in Isa 23:9; crowning cities, that is, the cities from which dependent kingdoms had arisen, as Tartessus in Spain, Citium in Cyprus and Carthage in Africa (Eze 27:33).

⁹ The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. — the Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to destroy Tyre; who is wonderful in counsel, capable of forming a wise scheme, being proud of its riches, the extent of its commerce.

¹⁰ Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no more strength. — as refugees the Tyrians are bid to pass to the daughter of Tarshish, that is, to Tarshish itself, to make their escape out of their own land and flee thither for safety.

¹¹ He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strongholds thereof. — that is, the Lord of hosts, who had purposed to destroy Tyre, stretched out his hand over it, called the sea as in Isaiah 23:4 in like manner as he stretched out his hand on the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians in it.

¹² And He said, “Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Cyprus; there also shalt thou have no rest.” — when her calamity should come upon her, her jovial time, her time of mirth, jollity and revelling would be over;

— O thou oppressed virgin! Tyre is called a “virgin” because of her beauty, pride and lasciviousness and had never being subdued or taken before: and “oppressed” because now deflowered, ransacked, plundered and ruined by Nebuchadnezzar.

¹³ Behold the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof, and he brought it to ruin. — behold the land of the Chaldeans; this expresses the source from where these calamities were coming upon Tyre; and as it states some historical facts of great interest respecting the rise of Babylon; as the prophet Isaiah had foretold the destruction of Tyre and had said that whoever was the agent, it was to be traced to the overruling providence of God.

¹⁴ Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, for your strength is laid waste! — for your strength is laid waste; meaning Tyre, a strong seaport and so it was the strength and support of their country; but was now destroyed, and therefore was matter of lamentation and mourning.

¹⁵ And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king; after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as a harlot. — “forgotten seventy years” so it is in the Septuagint version, “as the time of a man” and after the end of seventy years shall Tyre shall sing as an harlot; being rebuilt and restored to its former state; as a harlot who has been cast off by her lovers.

¹⁶ “Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.” — the desolations of Tyre were not to be forever; the Lord will visit Tyre but when set at liberty, she will use her old arts of lasciviousness; the love of worldly wealth is spiritual idolatry; and covetousness is spiritual idolatry.

¹⁷ And it shall come to pass, after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre; and she shall turn to her hire and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. — and she shall return to her hire; trade and merchandise; that shall revive, and be as in times past; and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world, upon the face of the earth; be a mart of nations again, as in Isaiah 23:3;

— that is, trade and traffic with all nations of the earth, in the most ample and public manner; this is called committing fornication, in agreement with the simile of a harlot before used, whereunto Tyre is compared; as well as to observe the illicit ways and methods used in her commerce;

— the Targum says, “and her merchandise shall be sufficient to all the kingdoms of the people, which are upon the face of the earth” and the Septuagint, “and shall be a mart to all the kingdoms of the world, upon the face of the earth.”

¹⁸ And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord. It shall not be treasured nor laid up, for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing. — after her restoration her merchandise shall be holiness unto the Lord, Yehovah.

Isaiah 24

¹ Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. — “the whole world” the “emptying” of it, is the removal of the inhabitants of it by wars and slaughters, which will be made when at a latter time, our time, the seven vials of God’s wrath will be poured upon God’s enemies;

— this is a prophecy of calamities upon the whole world, turning the earth upside down for their sins; of the preservation of a remnant.

² And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him. — that is, no order or rank of men will fare better than another; their dignity, in things civil or ecclesiastical, will not secure them from ruin; it will be no better with princes and priests than the common people; they shall all alike share in the common destruction.

³ The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly despoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word. — the land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, entirely emptied of its inhabitants, and wholly spoiled of its riches and substance; this is repeated, and with greater strength, to confirm what is said before, and which receives a greater confirmation by what follows:

⁴ The earth mourneth and fadeth away; the world languisheth and fadeth away; the haughty people of the earth do languish. — the earth mourns and fades away because of its inhabitants being destroyed; and it fades away, because stripped of its wealth and riches: so the kings of the earth and merchants of it are represented as weeping and mourning at the destruction of Babylon because of its judgements and the loss of its trade and riches.

⁵ The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. — because they have transgressed the laws; of God and man, as his shepherds have dispensed with the laws of God and in innumerable instances has transgressed them, casting all contempt upon them, and bidding all defiance to them, as being not at all bound and obliged by them;

— changed the ordinance; or “ordinances” the singular for the plural, a collective word; the ordinances of divine revelation, of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles to those of (1) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; and (2) Mithra, worshipping the sun-god, when a mystical white Christmas Babylon has been well embedded, breaking “the everlasting covenant,” saith the Lord of hosts.

⁶ Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. — therefore hath the curse devoured the earth; the inhabitants and the fruits alluding to the earth being cursed for the sin of man, bringing forth briers and thorns; this may denote the seven vials of God’s wrath poured upon the earth; or by the curse, understand perjury or false swearing; so the Targum says, “therefore, because of perjury (or a false oath) the earth is become a desert.”

⁷ The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. — all the merryhearted do sigh; whose hearts wine has formerly made glad shall now sigh for want of it; and such who have lived deliciously with the whore of Babylon and have had many a merry bout with her shall now bewail her and lament for her, when she shall be utterly burnt with fire.

⁸ The mirth of taborets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. — the mirth of tabrets ceaseth; or of drums, or any such musical instruments used at junketings and jovial feasts. So when Babylon is fallen, the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters, shall be heard no more therein.

⁹ They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. — strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it; they shall have no gust for it or relish of it as they formerly had; either through bodily diseases upon themselves or because of the calamities upon the nations and states in which they dwell.

¹⁰ The city of confusion is broken down; every house is shut up, that no man may come in. — even the city of Babylon in which there shall be nothing but disorder and irregularity, no truth nor justice; a city of vanity, full of superstition and idolatry; shall be broken to pieces by the judgements of God, to ruin and desolation.

¹¹ There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. — all joy is turned into the darkness of misery and distress; and men will gnaw their tongues for pain, and yet not repent of their sins, but blaspheme the God of heaven.

¹² In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. — in the city is left desolation; palaces, houses and temples burnt, inhabitants destroyed; none but devils, foul spirits, hateful and unclean birds inhabiting it.

¹³ When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. — as when an olive tree is shaken, or beaten with a staff, there would be a few left upon the uppermost or outermost branches, which cannot be reached; and as, after the vintage is got in, there are some grapes to be gleaned and gathered from the vines; so it is but a few, a remnant;

— the Targum says, “for now shall be left alone the righteous in the midst of the earth, among the kingdoms, as the shaking of olives, as the gleaning of grapes after the vintage.”

¹⁴ They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. — they, those who are left: the remnant, shall sing for the majesty of the Lord; who has so mercifully preserved them; from the distant lands beyond the sea, whither they have escaped.

¹⁵ Therefore glorify ye the Lord in the valleys, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea. — wherefore glorify ye the Lord, in the fires; these are the words of the remnant, now triumphing and singing, calling upon others also to glorify the Lord in the fires of affliction and tribulation,

— even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea; whose name Yehovah will now be known, not only in Israel or among the Jews only, but in all foreign countries, which are sometimes meant by the isles of the sea; and from even in the most remote to glorify God, whose name Yehovah will now be great in all the earth;

— God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; more on this at the end)

¹⁶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.” — my leanness! my leanness! — Isaiah faint and pine away in grief for the following reason: the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously which were led by both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, “the treacherous dealers” (Jeremiah 5:11), who have been frequently guilty of great perfidiousness toward God, and now Isaiah felt ashamed and voluntarily bearing the blame for the house of Jacob, “Woe unto me!”

¹⁷ Fear and the pit and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. — fear and the pit and the snare, these are rapid succession of inevitable calamities, in imagery drawn from the several forms of the hunter’s work.

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. — there is fleeing from the terror of the startled beast; then the pit dug that he might fall into it; then the snare, if he struggled out of the pit, out of which there was no escape (Isaiah 8:15; cf. Amos 5:19). The passage is noticeable as having been reproduced by Jeremiah in his prophecy against Moab (Jeremiah 48:43-44).

¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. — in the pit and snare those who escaped they shall be utterly broken down; this is repeated to show the dreadfulness and certainty of these judgements and to ensnare the escaping refugees.

²⁰ The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. — the earth shall reel to and fro; the people of the earth, the inhabitants of the land, shall be sorely perplexed and distressed, not knowing what to do, or whither to go.;

— the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard in the day of His fierce anger, shaking the earth out of her place; its waves would mean a hundred times the waves of Fukushima over! Cottages fall like dried leaves and gust away like flotsam.

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. — in the latter days, the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones, the proud and those who possess the high places of the earth; the kings and queens, the great elites of the world, who scorn and trample on his people.

²² And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. — prison, that is, as in a prison; this sheds light on the “shutting up” of the Jews in Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, and again under Titus, was to be followed by a visitation of mercy “after many days” – seventy years in the case of the former – the time hasn’t yet quite elapsed in the case of the latter;

— second, the word “visited” could be in a bad sense, namely, in wrath, as in Isa 26:14; compare Isa 29:6; the punishment being the heavier in the fact of a delay. Probably a double visitation is intended, deliverance to the elect, wrath to hardened unbelievers; as Isa 24:23 plainly contemplates judgements on proud and unrepentant sinners, symbolized by the “sun” and “moon.”

²³ Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders gloriously. — the moon shall be confounded; the thought implied is that the most glorious forms of created light will become dim, the moon red as with the blush of shame, the sun turning pale, before the glory of the Lord, before the Almighty Yehovah’s presence.

~~~

More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late comer.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name.” Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

Posted in Isaiah

“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people,” President Biden said during his State of the Union speech (March 1, 2022).

Chapter 20 continues with a prophecy of the burden of Babylon, Edom and Arabia; but in a rare incidence, Chapter 22 contains a prophecy of Judah and Jerusalem and none of the house of Israel. Why Jerusalem would be such a place of terror? Her slain men are not slain with the sword, but with famine; or slain with fear, disheartened. Q. could this be the prophecy of Judah’s iniquity for forty years bored by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4?

Isaiah 21

¹ The burden of the Desert of the Sea: As whirlwinds in the South pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. — the burden of Babylon, Edom and Arabia; the Targum says, “the burden of the armies, which come from the wilderness, as the waters of the sea.”

² A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. — dealeth treacherously; referring to the military stratagem employed by Cyrus in taking Babylon; Go up; Isaiah abruptly recites the order which he hears God giving to the Persians, the instruments of His vengeance (Isa 13:3,17).

³ Therefore are my loins filled with pain; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth. I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. — Isaiah imagines himself among the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling pains moved by the calamities which come on it; the pangs of a woman that travails; which come suddenly and at once, sharp and strong.

⁴ My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me; the night of my pleasure hath He turned into fear unto me. — my heart panted or fluttered about and could hardly keep its place; fearfulness affrighted me; the terror of Cyrus’s army seized him; the writing on the wall threw him into a panic and the news of the Medes and Persians having entered the city increased it.

⁵ Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink; arise, ye princes and anoint the shield. — the night the city was taken: these words are directed to the king (and princes) of Babylon by his courtiers or queen in order to remove his fears.

⁶ For thus hath the Lord said unto me: “Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.” — God’s direction to Isaiah to set a watchman to “declare” what he sees. “Come, let him who stands on the watchtower report what he sees.”

⁷ And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed. — a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; by the former may be meant the Persians, who very much used mules or asses; and the Medes by the latter, who abounded in camels: hence as a whole may signify the whole army of the Medes and Persians.

⁸ And he cried, “A lion! My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set at my post whole nights. — the lion’s eyelids are short, so that even when asleep, he seems to be on the watch, awake; hence he was painted on doors of temples as the symbol of watchfulness, guarding the place.

⁹ And behold, here cometh a chariot of men with a couple of horsemen!” And he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken unto the ground!” — Babylon is fallen, is fallen: which is repeated to show the certainty of it. The same words are used of the fall of mystical Babylon, Revelation 14:8; the Targum says, “it is fallen, and also it shall be, that Babylon shall fall” that is, a second time, and hereafter;

— and so it has two falls, one by the Medes and Persians, and the other by the hand of heaven or God himself: literal Babylon fell by the former; mystical Babylon will fall by the latter, even by the breath of the Messiah and the brightness of his coming and so put an end to idolatry; such as (1) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; and (2) Mithra, worshipping the sun-god, when a mystical white Christmas Babylon will be destroyed.

¹⁰ O my threshing and the corn of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. — O my threshing, and the corn of my floor; which could be understood to be the Babylonians, now threshed or punished by the Lord, and whom he had made use of as instruments for the punishment of others.

¹¹ The burden of Dumah: He calleth to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” — the burden of Dumah; whether this prophecy concerns the Edomites or Idumeans, or whether the Arabians, particularly the Dumean Arabians, is a question, since Dumah was a son of Ishmael, Genesis 25:14;

— Seir; a mountain inhabited by the Edomites, the posterity of Esau; the principal mountain in Idumea, South of the Dead Sea, a prophecy concerning Edom; that lay to the South.

¹² The watchman said, “The morning cometh, and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.”

¹³ The burden upon Arabia: In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye traveling companies of Dedanites. — the burden upon Arabia; which lay heavy upon it, as a burden upon a beast; or “concerning” it, or “against” it, which Arabia or what part thereof is meant may be gathered from the names after mentioned. The Targum says “the burden of the cup of cursing, to give the Arabians to drink.”

¹⁴ The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty; they were ready with their bread for him that fled. — the inhabitants of the land of Tema; this country had its name from Tema, one of the sons of Ishmael, Genesis 25:15. The Targum calls it the land of the south, as if it was Teman.

¹⁵ For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow and from the grievousness of war. — they fled from the swords; the fugitive Dedanites and other Arabs.

¹⁶ For thus hath the Lord said unto me: “Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail. — and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; these were another sort of Arabians as the Targum calls them: they descended from Kedar, a son of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13.

¹⁷ And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished. For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.” — the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be diminished; their military men, the most expert at the use of the bow, and the most valiant and courageous; the few of those that were left, and did not fall by the sword of the Assyrians, should gradually diminish, and be fewer and fewer.

Isaiah 22

In a rare incidence, Chapter 22 contains a prophecy of Judah and Jerusalem but none of the house of Israel. Why is Jerusalem in such terror? Their rulers fled, but were overtaken. All the horrors of a city taken by storm, faintly shadow forth the terrors of the day of wrath. Q. could this be the prophecy of Judah’s iniquity for forty years bored by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4?

¹ The burden of the Valley of Vision: What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? — the burden of the valley of vision; a prophecy concerning Jerusalem, so called because it lay in a valley, encompassed about with mountains and which was the habitation of the prophets or seers, and the seat of vision and prophecy; and perhaps there is an allusion to its name, which signifies the vision of peace or they shall see peace;

— the Septuagint version calls it, “the word of the valley of Sion” and the Arabic version, “a prophecy concerning the inhabitants of the valley of Sion, to wit, the fields which are about Jerusalem.” While the Targum says, “the burden of the prophecy concerning the city which dwells in the valley, of which the prophets prophesied,” by all which it appears, that not the whole land of Judea is meant.

— that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? they went up on the flat balustraded roofs to look forth and see whether the enemy was near, and partly to defend themselves from the roofs. 

² Thou that art full of stirrings, a tumultuous city, a joyous city; thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. — thy slain men are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle; therefore those that died were put into or through famine or pandemic like what we are having Covid-19 today that make our once joyous cities and high streets desolate.

³ All thy rulers have fled together; they are bound by the archers. All that are found in thee are bound together, who have fled from afar.

⁴ Therefore said I, “Look away from me; I will be bitter in weeping. Labor not to comfort me, because of the despoiling of the daughter of my people.” — therefore said Isaiah, the prophet to those that were about him, his relations, friends, and acquaintance:

— look away from me; turn away from me, look another way; cease from me, let me alone; leave me to myself, that I may weep in secret, take my fill of sorrow, and give full vent to it;

— because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people; Isaiah’s countrymen, which were as dear to him as a daughter to a tender father, now spoiled, plundered and made desolate by the ravages of the enemy, in many cities of Judea.

⁵ For it is a day of trouble and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the Valley of Vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. — referring to a day of trouble of the valley of vision; a prophecy concerning Jerusalem; could this be the prophecy of Judah’s iniquity for forty years bored by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4?

— breaking down the walls: of the fenced cities, with their battering rams, at the time they besieged and took them; and of crying to the mountains: looking and running to them for help and succour, for shelter and protection; and crying so loud, by reason of their distress, as that it reached the distant mountains, and made them echo with it.

⁶ And Elam bore the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. — Elam and Kir; two nations are named as the chief elements of a composite army when invading Judea; Elam; or the Elamites as the Targum and Septuagint say, that is, the Persians; and Kir uncovered the shield; this was a city in Media, and signifies the Medes;

— the Medes and Persians have never fulfilled this prophecy against the house of Judah in the past, indicating that modern Persia, IRAN, will fulfil this; if not why not; who else?

⁷ And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. — and it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys; the valleys that were near Jerusalem that used to be covered with the choicest corn or vines or with grass and flocks of sheep and used to be exceeding delightful and pleasant:

— shall be full of chariots; where they can be more easily driven than on mountains; these were chariots not for pleasure but for war; chariots full of soldiers to fight against and besiege Jerusalem:

— and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate of Jerusalem: to take them that come out of the city and to force their way into it; as well as to protect and defend the foot while they made the assault and scaled the walls and to be ready when the gates were opened to them.

⁸ And He uncovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest. — and he uncovered the covering of Judah, by God himself, who uncloaked them of their sins and secret dealings; or took away his protection of them and expose their weakness;

— and thou, didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest; to see what store of ammunition the house of Judah has in their secret warehouses, in what condition they are and to take from hence and be ready to furnish their soldiers with them.

⁹ Ye have seen also the breaches of the City of David, that they are many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. — of the city of David; that is, of Jerusalem, so called because it was the royal residence of David. Zion was usually called the city of David, but the name was given also to the entire city;

— and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool: the Septuagint version is, “and he turned the water of the old pool into the city” but the old pool was another pool hereafter mentioned, and was outside the city, the same with the upper pool; whereas this was the lower, and was in the city. The Targum says, “and ye gathered the people to the waters of the lower pool.”

¹⁰ And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. — and ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem; to know what number of men were in them, and how many could be spared to do duty, either as watchmen or soldiers; to spread the charge of defending the city;

— and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall; either such as were outside the wall, which, had they let them stand would either have been destroyed by the enemy, or have been a harbour for them; or those inside the city, with the stones and timber of which houses, when broken down they could strengthen the wall and so served a better purpose than if they had stood.

¹¹ Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool; but ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago. — for the water of the old pool; which, being outside the city, was by this means drained into this ditch or receptacle; and so their then enemy Assyrians were deprived of it, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem more abundantly supplied; this was wisely contrived to distress the enemy, and to enable themselves to hold out the siege the longer; and for this and other methods they took they are not blamed;

— but ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof; either of the distress and calamity which came upon them for their sins, with the will and by the decree of God; or of the water of the pool, which is a creation of his; for who can give rain or water but God?

¹² And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning, and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth. — call to weeping and to mourning; to confess and mourn over their sins, the cause of these calamities; to lament their unhappy case; to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God and by prayer and supplication with tears to implore his help and assistance and grant them deliverance;

— and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth; these were external signs and tokens of inward sorrow and repentance; the former of which was done by shaving the head or plucking off the hair and was forbidden on private occasions, yet might be allowed in a public case.

¹³ But behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine! “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die!” — and behold joy and gladness; as if it was a time of rejoicing, after days of weeping and mourning; as if they were at a festival of lamb and wine and in the greatest prosperity and liberty and not besieged by a powerful army.

¹⁴ And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts: “Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die,” saith the Lord God of hosts. — the Targum says, “the prophet said with mine ears I was hearing when this was decreed from before the Lord of hosts”

— surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die; it being of heinous nature, so daring, insolent and affronting, such a contempt of God and his word and discovering such impenitence and hardness of heart; it should not be forgiven; till they died.

¹⁵ Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: “Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say: — get thee unto this treasurer or governor, as the Targum says; treasurer in the house of King; even unto Shebna, which is over the house; that is, over the king’s house; so the steward that had the ordering of all the affairs civil and domestic in it, which was a very high post; he had the keys of the money, stores and provisions of the state.

¹⁶ What hast thou here? And whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high and that carves out a habitation for himself in a rock? — what hast thou here? The prophet’s indignation is roused by Shebna’s last act of arrogance, who had no “sepulchre of his fathers” to deck with fresh stateliness as like the kings had built one for himself, hollowed out a cave on one of the hills of Jerusalem, to be his own everlasting “habitation.”

— Q. Could Shebna be a type for Lucifer, the fallen one?

¹⁷ Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. — instead of a sepulchre for himself inside a rock, behold, the Lord will carry Shebna with a mighty captivity; as the Targum indicates, the phrase has the signification of flying; and so interprets it: he shall cause thee to fly like a bird into captivity; that is, very speedily and swiftly; or so the Vulgate version says, “behold, the Lord shall cause thee to be carried away as a cock is carried away.”

¹⁸ He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country. There shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house. — violently turn and toss—literally, “whirling He will whirl thee,” that is, He will whirl thee. “He will whirl thee round and round, and (then) cast thee away,” as a stone in a sling is first whirled round repeatedly, before the string is let go;

— the “large country” is probably one along the plain of Mesopotamia, where Shebna is to end his days in exile; in the land of the Medes and Persians? (verse 6)

¹⁹ And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. — shall he pull thee down; that is, “God” shall do it; the prophet here uses the third person.

²⁰ “And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. — My servant Eliakim; on the dignity of this title when given by God himself, that is, prophetically a man who will be faithful to God who will be trustworthy and to whom the interests of God and the city may be safely confided; a man who will not seek to betray it into the hands of the enemy.

²¹ And I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. — and God will clothe Eliakim with Isaiah’s robe; which was a badge and token of his office. If he was a priest, this was his priestly robe, by which the high priest was distinguished from others; but Eliakim seems to be a civil officer, who wore a garment distinctive of it; in which he would be a type of Zerubbabel of a kingly office, crowned with glory and honour;

— the Targum takes in both, “and I will give the key of the house of the sanctuary, and the government of the house of David, into his hand.”

— Q. Could Shebna be a type for Lucifer, the fallen one? And Eliakim, My servant, be a type of the Logos, the righteous one?

²² And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open. — in the sense, the Messiah or Christ is said to have this key, Revelation 3:7 where the following words are applied to him: so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open;

— all which is expressive of the Godly government being on his shoulders, and of his absolute and uncontrollable power over it; who opens the treasures of his Word, of his wisdom and knowledge and communicates them and shuts or hides them from, whom he pleases; who opens and shuts the door of the kingdom of heaven, and introduces into it his own people, and excludes others.

²³ And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. — this is an expressive of the strength of the Messiah, the Christ, as the mighty Son; and as the man of God’s right hand, made strong to be the Saviour and mighty Redeemer.

²⁴ And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons. — the glory of building his Father’s house; the Targum says, “and all the glorious or noble ones of his father’s house shall lean upon him, children and children’s children:”

— all vessels of small quantity; from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons; meaning those of his family, that were some of lesser, others of greater capacities, for whom he provided places and posts under him, suitable thereunto; none were forgotten or neglected by him: this simile, of vessels of various sorts and sizes, is made use of, in perfect agreement with Eliakim’s being compared to a nail, on which vessels in a house are hung by their handles.

²⁵ In that day,” saith the Lord of hosts, “shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for the Lord hath spoken it.” — in that day, saith the Lord of hosts’that is, when Eliakim put in his place:

— shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; meaning, not Eliakim before spoken of, who really was a nail fastened in a sure place, and not to be removed; but Shebna, who thought himself to be as a nail in a sure place, being put into it by the king, and supported by his authority, and courted by his friends and flatterers; for to him the whole preceding prophecy is directed, which is carried down to this verse; for all that is said of the glory and usefulness of his successor Eliakim was to be told to him, which would make it still the more grievous to him, to be degraded and disgraced as he would be, signified by his being removed, cast down, and falling;

— and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; those that were dependent upon him, his family, his flatterers, and friends, such whom he had raised by his influence and authority to considerable places, and whom he supported in them; these would fall with him, as is usual when a royal favourite, or prime minister of state, falls into disgrace, and is removed; an instance of this may be seen in Haman, whose family and friends were involved in the same ruin with him, Esther 9:12 and it may be observed, that many dependents, which a minister of state always has, are a burden to him. The Targum interprets this of the burden of prophecy; “for, so it is decreed by the word of the Lord.”

Posted in Isaiah

The Scriptures are often shrouded in cryptic languages; as usual a prophecy of Isaiah will start with the house of Judah and Jerusalem then spread to the house of Israel and soon it includes many prophecies concerning other nations surrounding the region. Our challenge is to decrypt them, especially as it relates to the latter days, our days.

Isaiah 19

¹ The burden of Egypt: Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. — the burden of Egypt; a prophecy in the future, very grievous one, declaring many calamities that should come upon them. The Targum says, “the burden of the cup of cursing, to make the Egyptians drink.”

— behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, coming on light clouds as His chariots, in order to pass sentence, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall tremble with terror at His presence and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it, namely, for fear of the impending punishment.

² “And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians; and they shall fight every one against his brother and every one against his neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. — and the Lord will set the Egyptians against fellow Egyptians, inciting them to civil war and anarchy; and they shall fight every one against his brother and every one against his neighbor; city against city and kingdom against kingdom. 

³ And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof; and they shall seek the idols and the charmers, and them that have familiar spirits and the wizards. — and the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof, particularly to Osiris and Isis, to Apis, Latona and others; so that the courage of the Egyptians would, literally, “be emptied out” and God will destroy the counsel thereof, swallowing all their plans, so that the rulers would be helpless in the situation; 

— and they shall seek their idols, appealing to them for help, and to the charmers, literally, “the murmurers, or mutterers,” those who professed to be in touch with the spirit world, magicians and conjurers and to them that have familiar spirits, the spiritists of those days, and to the wizards, those actually in league with the Evil One. Then, as has always been, people who refused to accept the true God resorted to superstitious rites and to the assistance of the spirits of darkness.

⁴ And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them,” saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. — and the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, the reference being either to one of their own tyrannical rulers or to the Assyrian conquerors; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord of hosts. Three Pharaohs, namely, Psammetichus, Necho, and Hophra, oppressed the Egyptians so severely that the land never recovered from their tyranny.

⁵ And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. — and the waters shall fail from the Red Sea, the waters from the Nile shall be wasted and dried up, perhaps none flow from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam; this drying up would be a calamity for Egypt, since Egypt depended entirely upon the Nile for drinking and irrigation (see also Ezekiel 30:12 and Zechariah 10:11).

⁶ And they shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither. — and they shall turn the rivers far away, rather, “and the rivers shall produce a stench,” being reduced to stagnating pools; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up, that is, the canals of the Nile, especially around its delta and in the irrigation systems, would carry no more water; the reeds and flags, principally the papyrus-plants depending altogether upon the moisture of the river, shall wither.

⁷ The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. — the paper-reeds by the brooks, literally, “the naked places,” the meadows on the Nile, by the mouth of the brooks, along the banks of the river, and everything sown by the brooks, the grain-fields along the very edge of the Nile, shall wither, be driven away, scattered by the wind in the form of dust, and be no more;

— since Egypt in history, had never experienced the Nile drying up, this could only been a prophecy; not just here, but perhaps the whole chapter, including “a cruel lord and a fierce king shall rule over them.”

⁸ The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast hook into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. — the fishers shall also mourn, because they would be thrown out of a livelihood, and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish, since the rich fisheries of the Nile or its brooks would no longer exist.

⁹ Moreover they that work in fine flax and they that weave network shall be confounded. — moreover, they that work in fine flax, fine linen cloth and yarn; and they that weave networks, white cotton cloth, shall be confounded, since neither flax nor cotton would grow, and this important industry would thus be made impossible.

¹⁰ And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. — and they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish, literally, “and shall be her foundations ruins, all laborers for hire swamps of the soul,” that is, the upper castes of the nation would lose their power, and the poorest people of the country would give way to hopelessness and despair;

— the Syriac version says “and all they shall be humbled that make strong drink, for the drink of the soul” that is, for their upper castes to drown their sorrows.

¹¹ Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings”? — surely the princes of Zoan (or Tanis as the Targum says), a city of Lower Egypt, known as “the royal city of the Pharaohs, “it was then the royal city and at one time the capital of the country, who claimed “we are the sons of wise men” are fools, the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish, the priestly counselors of the Egyptian king had lost all their wisdom;

— how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? In spite of the fact that they boasted their descent from wise and ancient counselors, even of royalty, they were unable to offer advice in the present crisis;

¹² Where are they? Where are thy wise men? And let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. — where are they? where are their wise men? And, let them tell thee now, in a certain prophecy, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt, and it has deep consequences;

— today, Gypsies are known as Roma, but in Hebrew, their name is derived from the Egyptian city of Zoan, or Tanis, at one time the royal and capital of the country; and this is from Wikipedia (Romani people);

Hebrew: צוענים‎, romanized: Tzoanim. Derives either from the biblical Egyptian city of Zoan, or from the linguistic root צ־ע־נ‎, meaning “wander.”

The English term Gypsy (or Gipsy) originates from the Middle English gypcian, short for Egipcien.

Ezekiel 29:12 “and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them through the countries.”

— for more, see a study commentary in Ezekiel 32.

¹³ The princes of Zoan are become fools; the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. — the princes of Zoan are fools in their counsels to Pharaoh; the princes of Noph, of Memphis, on the western bank of the Nile, capital of Lower Egypt, are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, led its people astray by their false claims and foolish counsel, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof, upon whom the people depended for leadership.

¹⁴ The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. — the Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst of the princes of Zoan, for the false wisdom of the leading castes acted like a spirit of intoxication; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof;

— as a drunken man staggered in his vomit, who is so very drunk, that his head is quite giddy, and cannot walk upright, but staggers as he goes, and vomits as he staggers, and falls down, and is rolled in it as the Targum says; just like such a man were the princes and governors of the Egyptian provinces, unable to find their way out.

¹⁵ Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. — neither shall there be any work for Egypt which the head or tail, branch or rush may do, that is, no person in Egypt, whether of the ruling or of the serving class, whether lofty or humble, will be able to do anything to stop the general destruction;

— the Targum interprets the whole of their chief men thus, “and the Egyptians shall have no king to reign, nor prince, noble, governor, or ruler.”

¹⁶ In that day shall Egypt be like unto women; and it shall be afraid and fear, because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shaketh over it. — in that day shall Egypt be like unto women, weak and feeble, as the Targum says; fearful and timorous, even their military force; and devoid of wisdom, even their princes and nobles: on account of the greater timidity which usually characterizes the weaker sex; 

— and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts which He shakes over it, His judgements and punishments when He lifts up His rod, and holds it over a people, thus being scattered by means of the invaders of Egypt.

¹⁷ And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt; every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which He hath determined against it. — and the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, that if the judgements of God fell so heavy on his own people, what might they expect? either because the mere mention of the name struck terror to their hearts at this time, or because Judah was now allied with Assyria against the king of Egypt;

— every one that makes mention thereof, namely, of Judah, shall be afraid in himself because of the judgement of the Lord of hosts which He hath determined against it, for they all dreaded the punishment which they felt was now inevitable.

¹⁸ In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called the City of Destruction. — in that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, that is, the Hebrew language and accept the true, revealed religion, and swear to the Lord of hosts, pledging themselves to Him with a sacred oath; one shall be called The City of Destruction, literally, “Ir-ha-heres,” which may have been the city of the sun, or Heliopolis. The prophecy of Jeremiah 43:13, also means to point to the destruction of this or a similar city.

¹⁹ In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. — in that day shall there be a reference is either to the establishment of the religion of Yehovah in Egypt during the Millenium with a foothold which the true religion gained in Egypt at a very early date of a new era.

— The “Altar to Jehovah in the Land of Egypt” (Isaiah 19:19). This Is Appendix 81 From The Companion Bible. The fulfillment of this prophecy took place in 1 BC is recorded by Josephus (Antiquities xiii.3.1-3;6; Wars 7.10,3; and Against Apion, 2.5):-

In consequence of wars between the Jews and Syrians, ONIAS IV, the High Priest, fled to Alexandria; where, on account of his active sympathy with the cause of Egypt against Syria, he was welcomed by PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR, and rewarded by being made prince over the Jews in Egypt.

²⁰ And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a savior and a great one, and He shall deliver them. — and it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt, so that their contemporaries could see the evidence of their worship and their descendants have this proof of their religion; 

— for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a savior, and a great one, a mighty warrior, and he shall deliver them, whose coming was a deliverance to Egypt in various ways.

²¹ And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it. — and the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, namely, when Yehovah would visit Egypt in judgement and cause the truth to be proclaimed to its people, and shall do sacrifice and oblation, perform the acts of true worship to the only God; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it, pledging themselves to Yehovah and His service.

²² And the Lord shall smite Egypt; He shall smite and heal it; and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be entreated by them and shall heal them. — and the Lord shall smite Egypt, in order to bring its people to repentance; He shall smite and heal it, for His purpose is always one of redemption; and they shall return even to the Lord, His punishment having taken the right effect, and He shall be intreated of them and shall heal them. Cf Leviticus 26:44; Deuteronomy 32:36.

²³ In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. — in that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, permitting free and friendly communication, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians, proselytes and Jews from both countries meeting at Jerusalem and elsewhere for the worship of Yehovah.

²⁴ In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land, — in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, the believers of the three countries being joined by the one faith, even a blessing in the midst of the land, since blessings would go forth from them to the inhabitants of other countries all over the world;

²⁵ whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance.” — whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, My people, admitted to all the spiritual privileges formerly held by Israel alone, and Assyria, the work of My hands, His workmanship in the spiritual sense, and Israel, Mine inheritance, still designated thus as the actual son of the Kingdom of God and head of His family. Altogether, they set a splendid example of the spread of the true religion under the merciful direction of God during the Millenium.

Isaiah 20

¹ In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him), and fought against Ashdod and took it, — in the year 711 BC that Tartan, the commander of the Assyrian armies, II Kings 18:17, came unto Ashdod, one of the cities of Philistia which had revolted against the Assyrian supremacy and fought against Ashdod, and took it,

² at the same time spoke the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. — at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth, the loose outer garment of coarse cloth which Isaiah wore, from off thy loins and put off thy shoe from thy foot;

— and he did so, walking naked, that is, with only his tunic or shirt-like garment, and barefoot, presenting the appearance of one who bad been robbed or spoiled, stripped of his possessions, like a beggar or captive of war. The very dress of Isaiah called attention to his message of repentance.

³ And the Lord said, “As My servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia, — and the Lord said, As My servant Isaiah hath walked naked (not wholly naked, for that would have been very indecent and dangerous indeed; but without his upper garment) and barefoot three years, to bring home with great emphasis the lesson which the Lord wished to convey, for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia, for a portentous type against the double kingdom,

⁴ so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. — so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, as foretold by the symbolic act of Isaiah, even with their buttocks uncovered, as a sign of extreme disgrace, II Samuel 10:4-5, to the shame of Egypt.

⁵ And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and of Egypt their glory. — and they, the inhabitants of Palestine, also the Jews, who looked to Egypt as a possible ally against Assyria, shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia, their expectation, finding themselves disappointed in their hopes of help from this quarter, and of Egypt, their glory, of whose power they had boasted and on whose strength they had relied.

⁶ And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day, ‘Behold, such is our expectation wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And how shall we escape?’” — and the inhabitants of this isle, of the coastal country along the Mediterranean, including Philistia, Phenicia, and the kingdom of Judah, shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria, that is, such was the lot of those to whom they looked for help and deliverance from the power of Assyria; 

— and how shall we escape? The nation which they considered strong and mighty had proved itself powerless against the common enemy; how, then, could the weaker states hope to escape? It is but another instance of the folly of men in placing their trust in the power of flesh and believing that they can escape the Lord. So the Targum asks, “if the mighty could not delivered their souls, how shall we, the weak, be delivered?”

Posted in Isaiah

This chapter contains a prophecy of the ruin of Syria and the ten tribes, Israel; who were in alliance; and also of the overthrow of the Assyrian army. Often, Israel is being referred to as the house of Jacob which would include Judah. The destruction of Damascus, the metropolis of Syria and other cities are under judgement.

Isaiah 17

¹ The burden of Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. — the Targum says, “the burden of the cup of cursing to give Damascus to drink.”

² The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. — Aroer was a city by the river Arnon, on the borders of Moab and Ammon, their inhabitants of these Syrian cities being slain or carried captive or obliged to flee;

— the Syrian civil war started on March 15, 2011 as part of the wider Arab Spring protests which led to much destruction of the country; many Syrians were forced to flee to neighbouring countries or even to Europe as refugees.

³ The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria; they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel,” saith the Lord of hosts. — Ephraim, the ten tribes, now in confederacy with the Syrians, whose metropolis or fortress was Samaria, which seems to be intended here; and should be destroyed, at least taken out of the hands of the Israelites, and they be carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria.

⁴ “And in that day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. — and in that day it shall come to pass; that being much about the same time that both kingdoms were destroyed by the Assyrians;

— that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin; the same with Ephraim and Israel, the ten tribes, whose glory lay in the superior number of their tribes to Judah; in the multitude of their cities, and the inhabitants of them; but now would be thinned, by the vast numbers that should be killed by the Sword, famine or pandemic, with a remnant carried away as captives:

— second; that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin; could this be speaking of Ezekiel 4 – the 190/40 Years of iniquity for Israel/Judah?

— and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean: like a man in a consumption, that is become a mere skeleton, and reduced to skin and bones: the meaning is, that all their health, wealth and riches should be taken away; so the Targum says “and the riches of his glory shall be carried away.”

⁵ And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the Valley of Rephaim. — and it shall be as when the harvestman of the house of Jacob gathereth the corn and reapeth the ears with his arm, literally, “and his arm reapeth the ears”

— and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the Valley of Rephaim, the fertile plain southwest of Jerusalem, toward the country of the Philistines. Cf II Samuel 5:18-22. The picture is that of a farmer going into a field of grain and gathering an armful of stalks with his left hand, while he cuts off the grain below with a sickle in his right hand.

⁶ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof,” saith the Lord God of Israel. — yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it; that is, a remnant left in the land of Israel, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel;

— in harvesting olives, the trees were first shaken, whereupon a few berries within reach were knocked down with sticks, but those which hung in the tree-tops, beyond reach, remained hanging. Thus only a few poor inhabitants would be left as remnant in Israel.

⁷ At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect for the Holy One of Israel. — at that day shall a man look to his Maker, instead of trusting in fortresses and in the strength of man’s arm, as heretofore, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel, for the small remnant of Israel and also of Judah shall return to the true God and His worship;

— that is, this indicates that until ‘that day’ comes both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have very little ‘respect’ for the Holy One of Israel. Pretending Christians have no idea of what keeping the law is and what judgement truly is; while the Orthodox Jews has no clue that the Scriptures have numerous references to the Son scattered all over that they are blinded to.

⁸ And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the Asherah poles or the sun images. — and the house of Jacob shall not look to their altars, the work of mere hands, which the children of Israel had formerly devoted to idolatry;

— neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, the Asherah-idols picturing one of the Semitic goddesses, very often identified with Venus, or the images, those of Baal, the sun-god, so that all the hosts of heaven were included in this idol-worship. Cf II Kings 21:7; II Kings 23:5.

⁹ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel; and there shall be desolation. — in that day shall his strong cities, especially those of Ephraim, be “like the forsaken places in the forests and mountain summits,” having fled from before the enemy, or being slain or carried captive; like a bough of a tree, that is forsaken stripped of its leaves, and an uppermost branch of a tree that is dead and dry, and has nothing on it; becoming ruin strongholds in remote parts of the country;

— which they left because of the children of Israel, and there shall be desolation, all the great fortresses and factories of Israel sharing the fate of antiquated castles. The prophet now addresses Ephraim directly: that is, the United States, be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch, like Cleveland, Newark, Pittsburgh, Detroit and many other sunset cities all along the rust belt, all shall be a desolation;

¹⁰ Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set them with strange slips. — because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, the only one who can bring true redemption, and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength, Yehovah being the one true Rock of Ages, Deuteronomy 32:15-18;

— therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants and shalt set it with strange slips; with strange slip, that is, with foreign strange doctrines, such as are brought from some ancient natives; Astarte from the Egyptians, who earlier learned from the Canaanites and the Phoenicians; Mithra from the Persian which are also set with strange slips, strange concepts which permeate the house of Israel today.

¹¹ In that day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. — in the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow; the northern kingdom, on the whole, had left the true God that its people had, literally, “planted plantings of pleasantness,” had taken up the various heathen cults and had then planted a strange vine in their own garden, namely, by becoming allies of the king of Syria, Damascus;

— the new plant had then been carefully fenced in, namely, by shrewd political schemes, so that the strange plant grew to maturity very rapidly, like a hothouse plant, for the alliance brought about a plan to attack Judah. But the whole scheme was frustrated by the action of the Almighty, who promptly reserved the garden of Ephraim as a heap, heaped up in the harvest, in the day of grief and a day of desperate sorrow.

¹² Woe to the multitude of many people, who make a noise like the noise of the seas, and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! — woe to the multitude of many people that made up the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, which consisted of people of many nations, with the turmoil and tumult of their advance;

— which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, the rattling of their armour and chariot wheels and prancing of their horses; and to the hectoring, blustering that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The enemies of Israel, who are also types of the enemies of God’s Kingdom, are pictured as being in a state of seething unrest, anxiously striving to harm the Lord’s people.

¹³ The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters; but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. — the Assyrian army  from various nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters, in an apparently irresistible tidal wave; but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, rather, it, the threatening tide of hostility;

— and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, the picture being taken from the open threshing-floors of farmers, which were usually situated in elevated places, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind, like whirling dust or particles of straw from the threshing-floor, as the wind picks them up and flings them away.

¹⁴ And behold, at eventide, trouble; and before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us. — and behold at the evening or night, horror falling upon the approaching enemies; even before the day dawns, they are destroyed. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us. Thus the Lord will finally carry out His sentence of punishment upon all enemies of His Kingdom and its work.

Isaiah 18

1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, — the Targum says, “Woe to the land to which they come in ships from a far country, whose sails are stretched out, as an eagle that flies with its wings;”

² that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, “Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!” — that sendeth ambassadors by the Red Sea, traversing the waters of that far country, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, light and fleet boats made of the papyrus-reed, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, rather, extended far and polished, gleaming, or shining;

— to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto, a handsome, ruling, and victorious people, one of great hidden beauty and power; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled, literally, “a nation of line, line,” and treading under foot, under the command some kings beyond Ethiopic, whose rule often bordered upon oppression, and whose land was carried down the sea lanes in the annual inundations; full of excitement on account of making various invasions to spoil other nations.

³ All ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when He bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. — all ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, called upon, either by the Lord, or rather by the prophet, to be eye and ear witnesses of the judgement that should be inflicted upon the above nation;

— see ye, always on the lookout for important happenings, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains, really, with an impersonal subject, when one does this, when this happens; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye, the trumpet sounding as an alarm of war; all the people concerned should be watching, for something of great event will happen.

⁴ For so the Lord said unto me: “I will take My rest, and I will consider in My dwelling place, like a clear heat upon herbs and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” — for the Lord said unto me, I will take My rest, and I will consider in My dwelling-place, for though the Lord may seem sometimes to take no notice of what is done on earth, yet He sees and knows all things, and considers in His own mind what is fit and proper that He should do, who works all things after the counsel of His own will:

— calmly looking on, apparently without the intention of interfering, like a clear heat upon herbs, while it is pleasantly warm in the sunlight, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest, while the plants, refreshed by the heavy dew of the harvest season, grow to maturity. It seems that the Lord is letting things go on as they please, that He is not actively interested in the affairs of the world; but it only seems so to such as do not know Him;

— the Targum says, “blessings and consolations will I bring to them quickly, as heat burning by means of the sun, and as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

⁵ For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. — for before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, after the blossom has withered, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, while the fruit is slowly maturing, He shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks and take away and cut down the branches, then the Lord would overthrow their present plans and prevent them from forming any future ones.

⁶ They shall be left together for the fowls of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth; and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. — they shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, that is, both sprigs and branches; with the fruit of them, which being unripe, are disregarded by men, but fed upon by birds and beasts;

— the birds of prey feeding on their carcasses, and to the beasts of the earth, to the foxes, hyenas, and jackals; and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall feast upon them, finding abundance of food the year around on the field of battle.

⁷ In that time shall a present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto, a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled—to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion. — in that time, before the Millennium, shall the present, namely, a tribute or sacrificial gift, be brought unto the Lord of hosts, the true God;

— of a people scattered and peeled and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto, Cf v. 2; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount Zion, the Kingdom of God. In the very midst of a prophecy describing the punishment meted out by God we have a Messianic promise; even the Kingdom of God would gain a foothold in Ethiopia and Egypt, described Isaiah 18:2 as here, who being converted, shall stretch out their hands to God, submit unto him and will flourish there for centuries.

Posted in Isaiah

The Russian bear seems to have bitten a porcupine which has now got stuck to its mouth, unable to swallow it nor to dislodge it.

Moab is located east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. It corresponds to the present-day country of Jordan. It is a people related to Israel, for Lot, the ancestor of Moab, is a cousin of Abraham.

Isaiah 15-16 form a whole and contain “the burden of Moab.” But a more complete description of the judgement on Moab can be found in Jeremiah 48; where there is a restoration for Moab in the end times but that remnant shall remain small and feeble.

Isaiah 15

¹ The burden of Moab: Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence, because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence, — the burden of Moab, a heavy, grievous prophecy, the nation descended from the elder daughter of Lot, occupying the country southeast of the Dead Sea; the Targum says, “the burden of the cup of cursing, to give Moab to drink.”

² he is gone up to Bajith and to Dibon, the high places, to weep. Moab shall howl over Nebo and over Medeba; on all their heads shall be baldness and every beard cut off. — he, the king or people of Moab, standing collectively for all the inhabitants of Moab, is gone up to Bajith, to the house of the temple, and to Dibon, a city not far from the Arnon;

— the high places, to weep, before the altars of the country’s idols. Moab shall howl over Nebo and over Medeba, rather, “on Nebo and Medeba of Moab howling is going on”; for in these two towns in the hills toward the west they had sanctuaries. On all their heads shall be baldness and every beard cut off, mutilated, as a sign of deep mourning, Leviticus 21:5.

³ In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth; on the tops of their houses and in their streets every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. — in their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth as well as a token of mourning for the dead thus exhibiting their grief openly; on the tops of their houses, which are flat in the Orient, and in their streets every one shall howl, weeping abundantly, being dissolved in tears.

⁴ And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh; their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz; therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. — and Heshbon, a former Amorite city, but regarded as belonging to Moab, shall cry; the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out, impelled thereto by the greatness of the horror; his life shall be grievous unto him, literally, “his soul trembles for him,” the entire nation being shaken by the bitterness of the punishment.

⁵ “My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, a heifer of three years old; for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. — the prophet Isaiah shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old, literally, “whose bolts (extended) to Zoar, the three-year-old heifer,” that is, the locks or fortified boundaries of Moab reached as far as Zoar, the city of Lot’s refuge, on the peninsula extending into the southeastern end Of the Dead Sea.

⁶ For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. — for the waters of Nimrim, known for the freshness of their springs, shall be desolate, filled with earth or rubbish by the invaders; for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing, the entire land being devastated, the vegetation drying up for want of care, and the crops apparently even burned up by the foes.

⁷ Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up shall they carry away to the Brook of the Willows. — therefore, the great substance which the Moabites had got, and hoarded upon account of the abundance they have gotten and that which they have laid up by hoarding; shall they carry away to the brook of the willows, a small stream on their southern boundary, which the Moabite fugitives forded in order to find refuge with the people of Idumea.

⁸ For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim and the howling thereof unto Beerelim. — for the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab, the cry of destruction and howling; thus filling their entire country; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, a town near the Dead Sea, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim, in northeastern Moabitis, that is, the cry of distress reaches from one end of the country to the other.

⁹ For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood; for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth from Moab and upon the remnant of the land.” — for the waters of Dimon, the river Arnon, shall be full of blood; for I will bring more further misfortune upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land, the reference being either to another enemy among foreign nations or to wild animals whom the Lord would send to complete the devastation of the land; the Targum says, “a king shall ascend with his army, and so spoil the remainder of their land.”

Isaiah 16

¹ Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. — send ye the lamb as tribute which started when David conquered them from the land of Moab to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion; Moab here, having found refuge in Petra of Idumea, being admonished to send its tribute of lambs to the ruler of the land, to the king reigning at Jerusalem, the road to this capital, whose most important section was Mount Zion, leading through the wilderness south and west of the Dead Sea. To submit to Judah, in both the physical and the spiritual sense, was Moab’s only hope

— Sela, or Petra; the capital of Idumea; also the capital of the Nabatheans.

² For it shall be that as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. — for it shall be that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, like birds aimlessly fluttering, like a nest whose occupants have suddenly been turned out; or as a bird that has forsaken its nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon; for here, at the boundary of their land, they assemble in huddled bands, looking for help and deliverance.

³ “Take counsel, execute judgement; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts, betray not him that wandereth. — take counsel to decide what is just and right; to decide paying tribute to the king of Judah, execute judgement, planning deliverance instead of oppression, as heretofore; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday, thereby concealing all those who trust in this shadow as completely as if the darkness of night enclosed them; 

— hide the outcasts, those who are driven from home without cause; such as were driven out of their land through the fury and persecution of the enemy, receive and conceal, as Rahab did the spies: betray not him that wandereth, betraying him not into the hands of the enemies.

⁴ Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the despoiler; for the extortioner is at an end, the despoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. — let Mine outcasts or refugees dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler, such as when first the Assyrian monarchs and later king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to ravage Judea, thus giving shelter to all who might become fugitives from Judah in the uncertain circumstances obtaining at that time;

— for the extortioner is at an end, the great world-power which made it a practice to destroy and tread under foot was itself overcome, the spoiler ceaseth, destruction is no longer to be found, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. Jerusalem was delivered from the Assyrian affliction, which represented, at the same time, all the forces of evil arrayed against the Chosen people.

⁵ And in mercy shall the throne be established; and He shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgement and hastening righteousness.” — and in mercy shall the throne, that of Judah, of the Messiah, be established, prepared and confirmed; and He, the Messiah Himself, shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David;

— one in whom the truth of the Lord’s promise is fulfilled, one who Himself is the Truth, judging, and seeking judgement, and hasting righteousness, for those are the principles of His government. There is only one way for Moab to escape the threatening everlasting Judgement, and that is by acknowledging and throwing itself upon the mercy of this King.

⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud” even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath; but his lies shall not be so. — the nation of Israel has heard of the pride of Moab, its conceit and foolish dependence upon its own strength, Jeremiah 48:14-29; he is very proud; even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath, his senseless anger against Israel; but his lies shall not be so, his false boasts would soon be shown to be vain.

⁷ Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl; for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. — therefore one Moabite shall mourn for another, lamenting its own ruin; every one shall howl; for the foundations of Kir-hareseth, the ruins of its strongest fortress, shall ye mourn, for this citadel of brick would be razed, or its grape-cakes would no more be available; surely they are stricken, rather, the people of Moab, utterly stricken by this calamity, would lament.

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof. They are come even unto Jazer; they wandered through the wilderness; her branches are stretched out; they are gone over the sea. — for the fields of Heshbon languish and the vine of Sibmah, their richest products being ruined by the invaders; all the fine plants of the vine whose culture was so extensively carried on in this country; they, namely, the grape-vines in all parts of the country, all were appointed to destruction.

⁹ Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah; I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, for upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest the shouting has fallen. — therefore Isaiah will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah, the prophet’s tears joining in pity and in lament with those of the rich districts of Moab; 

— Isaiah will water them with tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh, weeping on account of the hardness of heart shown to the Moabites, which resulted in such a terrible punishment; for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen, rather, “for the vintage-shout ( hedad) is fallen on thy fruits and on thy vintage,” namely, the invader, whose shout of triumph accompanied his trampling the harvest of fruits and grapes into the ground.

¹⁰ And gladness is taken away and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting. The treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. — and gladness is taken away and joy out of the plentiful field, out of the garden-land; and in thy vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting, as when the harvest was gathered in times of peace; 

— the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; their destruction wrought by the enemy has brought about the end of all happy harvesting.

¹¹ Therefore my heart shall sound like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. — wherefore Moab shall sound like the sounding-board of a stringed instrument, which vibrates with the depth of his emotion.

¹² And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail. — and it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, when its people have lamented themselves weary, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray, 

— that is, turning to the high place consecrated to his god Chemosh and tormenting himself to utter fatigue; but he shall not prevail, for the god in whom he foolishly trusts is nothing but a dead idol. Such is ever the result when men place their confidence in an idol of their own invention.

¹³ This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. — this is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time, that is, the prophecy recorded till now had been made some time before. The accurate time of its fulfilment is now added by prophet Isaiah:

¹⁴ But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be condemned with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.” — but now the Lord. hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, very carefully measured, and the glory of Moab shall be condemned;

— that is,  covered with shame, with all that great multitude, the whole mass of its inhabitants; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble, in no sense large, there would be but an insignificant remainder of the former mighty nation. The ruins of the places mentioned in this prophecy, whose names have been preserved even to this day, testify to both the inspiration of prophecy and the punitive judgement from God.

Posted in Isaiah

The Scriptures are often shrouded in cryptic languages; as usual a prophecy of Isaiah will start with the house of Judah and Jerusalem then spread to the house of Israel and soon it includes many prophecies concerning other nations surrounding the region. Our challenge is to decrypt them, especially as it relates to the latter days, our days.

Isaiah 13

¹ The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw: — a prophecy concerning Babylon, described as the burden of Babylon, the sentence of judgement revealed by special inspiration of the Lord, which Isaiah the son of Amoz prophesied.

² “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain; exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. — lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, raising the standard of battle upon a deforested peak, where it may be visible from all sides, exalt the voice unto them, calling in urgent invitation, shake the hand, in a beckoning gesture, that they may go into the gates of the nobles, summoned to celebrate a victorious battle, a war against the enemies which would result in a glorious triumph.

³ I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for Mine anger, even them that rejoice in My highness.” — God has commanded his sanctified ones; meaning Cyrus, Darius and the officers of their armies, with the common soldiers, who were furnished with might and strength to do his will, to which they were called in his providence:

— Yehovah Himself summoning these warriors consecrated to His work; he have also called his mighty ones for his anger, the heroes who should carry out the purposes to execute His judgement, even them that rejoice in his highness, boasting of the victory won in His might.

⁴ The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. — the noise of a multitude in the mountains of Media and Persia, like as of a great people, a turmoil as when masses of people, great armies, congregate; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together, an exceptionally large and powerful host;

— the Lord of hosts, the Commander-in-chief of all heavenly forces, mustereth the host of the battle, ready to carry out His plan of punishment when the army under Cyrus was marching towards Babylon.

⁵ They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land. — they come from a far country, from the end of heaven, from the ends of the earth; the furthermost parts of it, as Persia and Media were: from beyond the horizon, where the earth appears to be hounded by the sky;

— even the Lord, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land, literally, “to overturn the whole earth” for the entire world, then known, would feel the ravages of the war of destruction determined upon by the Lord of hosts, Yehovah. The prophet now turns directly to the nations, the whole land of Chaldea, with Babylon in the lead; the Targum says, “to destroy all the wicked of the earth.”

⁶ Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. — Howl ye, in consternation and terror; these words are an address to the Babylonians, for the day of the Lord, or the Lord’s Day, is at hand when He intends to carry out His judgement; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty, all the enemies being included in his punishment suddenly, swiftly and irresistibly; and all opposition being useless from the start.

⁷ Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt. — therefore shall all hands be faint, hanging down limp and without strength, and every man’s heart shall melt, like water, like wax before the fire; be dispirited and lose all their valour and courage have neither power nor heart to resist their enemies, and of an utter lack of courage, of complete hopelessness.

⁸ And they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. — and they shall be afraid, troubled, dismayed, frightened, terrified in bewilderment; pangs, convulsions and pains in the bowels shall take hold of them, their terror showing in convulsive movements; 

— they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth, Joel 2:6; they shall be amazed one at another, staring with all evidences of extreme terror, their faces shall be as flames, alternately reddening and blanching as their fear drives the blood back and forth in the body.

⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. — behold, the day of the Lord cometh, the day of His vengeance, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, consuming with its heat, to lay the land of the Chaldean desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it, for the Lord here has the whole earth in mind.

¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. — for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light, the figure of utter darkness pointing to the severity of the punishment; 

— the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, ceasing to shine as soon as it rises, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine so that it would be very uncomfortable; day and night, neither sun, moon nor stars appearing. All this, as in Joel 3:4 and Amos 5:8, indicates that all hope would be vain.

¹¹ “And I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. — and God will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity; and he will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, so that the voice of boasting is no longer heard, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible, putting down the tyrants and stopping their violence.

¹² I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. — the scarcity of men in Babylon through the slaughter as God made a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir, in this manner would the Lord visit the world with His anger, to punish and annihilate it in the extremity of His wrath.

¹³ Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. — therefore God will shake the heavens, namely for the purpose of punishing the earth and making men scarce on it, and the earth shall remove out of her place, being crowded aside, as it were, by the immensity of God’s indignation;

— in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and In the day of His fierce anger. He is going to shake the earth out of her place, of course literally, which would mean a hundred times the waves of Fukushima over!

¹⁴ And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up; they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. — and Babylon and its inhabitants shall be as the chased roe, the timid gazelle, which is so easily startled, and as a sheep that no man taketh up, like a panic-stricken flock which simply cannot be brought together again;

— they shall every man turn to his own people and flee every one into his own land, that is, the great mass of strangers gathered in the great world market, first with Babylonia, then the house of Israel and the house of Judah would, at the Lord’s shakings, the tribes scatter in all directions, every one anxious to reach the protection of his own country;

— Q. could “every man every one into his own land” also mean that the house of Israel, the ten-tribes headed by the United States, finally realised their land is in the Promised Land in Palestine; and flee to reclaim, first, with the “West Bank” then the others? Especially what could have happened after Ezekiel 20:45 to 21:5?

Ezekiel 20:45 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
⁴⁶ “Son of man, set thy face toward the South, and drop thy word toward the South, and prophesy against the forest of the Southland.
⁴⁷ And say to the forest of the South: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree. The flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the South to the North shall be burned therein.
⁴⁸ And all flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.’”
⁴⁹ Then said I, “Ah, Lord God! They say of me, ‘Doth he not speak parables?’”
Ezekiel 21:1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
² “Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel;
³ and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My Sword out of his sheath and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My Sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the South to the North,
⁵ that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth My Sword out of his sheath. It shall not return any more.’

¹⁵ Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. — everyone that is found, not having sought safety in flight, shall be thrust through, and every one that is joined unto them, rather, intercepted in flight, shall fall by the sword, for it is a general slaughter which will come upon the mixed population of the United States.

¹⁶ Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be despoiled and their wives ravished. — their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their parents witnessing their murder; their houses shall be spoiled, everything plundered, and their wives ravished, for war ever brutalizes men, in many cases placing them below the level of beasts.

¹⁷ “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. — behold, God will stir up the Medes against them, the Medo-Persians being the world power which conquered Babylon;

— which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it, that is, it would be impossible to bribe them, to buy them off, and thus save the city whose destruction was firmly determined upon by the Lord; also the original Medo-Persians had pleasure by their spoiling of the houses of the Babylonians, but these don’t have any pleasures, hence it is another scenario; Q. Could this be a latter day prophecy of the United States?

¹⁸ Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. — their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces, a very vivid description of the effect which would attend the wholesale slaughter; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb, not sparing even the unborn children, II Kings 8:12; II Kings 15:16; Hosea 14:1; Amos 1:13; their eye shall not spare children, for the enemies would be devoid of all pity.

¹⁹ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. — and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, an ornament of beauty in the midst of conquered nations, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, to which they all pointed with pride as the greatest capital of the world, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, utterly destroyed, an eternal wilderness.

²⁰ It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. — it shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabians, the Bedouin nomads, pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there, total desolation should reign there forever.

²¹ But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. — but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, making their dens in the midst of the ruins; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, the howling jackals probably being meant; and owls shall dwell there, rather, ostriches, and satyrs, or wild goats, thought to be possessed of demons, shall dance there.

²² And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” — and the wild beasts of the islands, probably hyenas, shall cry in their desolate houses, in the ruined palaces of the city, and dragons in their pleasant palaces.

Isaiah 14

¹ For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. — for the Lord will have mercy on the house of Jacob, it is His plan for His people to lead the way for the Kingdom of God; which caused Him to bring the judgement of punishment and destruction by the rod of Babylon, then the Romans;

— but will yet choose Israel in accordance with His plan of redemption and set them in their own land, the Promised Land; His elect being called a peculiar people; and the strangers from the nations, people who are not members of Israel according to the flesh, shall be joined with them, into a kingdom of saints, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob, to be reckoned members of God’s people.

² And the people shall take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids; and they shall take them captive whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. — and the people that take them and bring them to their place, that is, the Chaldeans, will them play a reverse role;

— that is, the Jews that dwelt in Babylon shall rule over their oppressors, the Chaldeans, the nations; and similarily, the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord that have given to them, the former enemies of the children of Israel surrounding the region will be glad to serve Him in this manner.

³ And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, — and it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow from captivity and from thy fear of worse evils, most cruel usage, and death itself, under the terror of which they lived: and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve;

⁴ that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How hath the oppressor ceased! The golden city ceased! — that thou shalt take up this proverb, a song of triumph, against the king of Babylon and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! literally, “Ended is the driving despot, ended the exacting” (of gold), or “the oppression” for the greatest burden which Babylon laid upon the people under her dominion was that of a tribute, a tribute of gold.

⁵ The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of the rulers. — the Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of its rulers, since it was used only for authority; the “staff” and “sceptre” are emblems of power and government and “breaking” them signifies the utter destruction and cessation of authority and dominion.

⁶ He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. — the king of Babylon smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, namely, the scepter of the tyrant, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth, that is, none of the neighbouring kings and nations, either tributary to him, or in alliance with him, give him the least help or assistance.

⁷ The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing. — the whole earth is at rest and is quiet, now that the enemy is overthrown, the peace of God’s kingdom being pictured; they break forth into singing song of praise, the believers praising the Lord for His deliverance.

⁸ Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since thou art laid down, no hewer has come up against us.’ — yea, the fir-trees, or cypresses, rejoice at thee, at the tyrant’s misfortune, and the cedars of Lebanon, for their wood had been exported and furnish for building houses; saying, Since thou art laid down, Babylon having fallen, no feller is come up against us, to strip the mountainsides of their forests.

⁹ Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. — hell or the “grave” from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, the specters or giants inhabiting hell, even all the chief ones, literally, “the leaders” of the earth, as many as are in the dominion of darkness; 

— it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations; all these dwellers are pictured as astonished and excited at the prospect of seeing the kings of Babylon or the Pharaohs of Egypt, feeble and powerless, coming out from their place of abode.

¹⁰ All they shall speak and say unto thee: ‘Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?’ — all they shall speak and say unto thee, the kings of Babylon or the Pharaohs of Egypt, not in contempt and mockery but in honest astonishment, Art thou also become weak as we, void of all strength? Art thou become like unto us?

¹¹ Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. — thy pomp is brought down to the grave, all Babylon’s and Egypt’s earthly glory and majesty destroyed, and the noise of thy viols, the sound of the harps which accompanied his feasts of merrymaking on earth; 

— the worm, the flesh-eating maggot, is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee, the most repulsive creatures, symbols of decay, taking the place of the precious Babylonian carpets, tapestries, and coverings to which the king had been accustomed here on earth.

¹² “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations! — How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! literally, “O day-star, son of the dawn,” the reference is to be understood of the fall of Satan, and the apostate angels, comparing him to the high and influential position occupied by the Babylonian ruler. How art thou cut down to the ground, like a giant tree which has been felled, which didst weaken the nations, in conquering and subduing them;

— Lucifer = “light-bearer” however, renders from the Hebrew [hêlēl H1966]; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’ Isaiah 14:14

¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. — for only Lucifer, not even Nebuchadnezzar, could have said in his heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, the residences of the spirits of God; 

— I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the North, this being said according to the hint of the Heavenly Throne where the Lord God is, on the North side of the earth, in the far North.

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’ — I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, considered the chariots and thrones of the ancient deities; I will be like the Most High, many of the emperors of old regarding themselves as the sons or the offspring of God and laying claim to divine honors;

— the Targum says, “I will be higher than them all.’

¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. — yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit, his reception in the place of everlasting destruction.

¹⁶ They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, saying, ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, — the dead that see thee, after the great downfall which has been so graphically pictured, shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, musing upon the terrible fate which struck their former companion or acquaintance, saying, Is this the king or Caesar that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, as the great Babylonian or Roman empires often did;

¹⁷ that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners?’ — by destroying the inhabitants of it, that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof; and by laying waste cities, towns; that opened not the house of his prisoners, showing no pity by dismissing them to their prisons.

¹⁸ All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. — every king of the nations who lie in wait for glory; their bodies, properly prepared for burial, lying in state in the tombs of their ancestors.

¹⁹ But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under feet. — but thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, where it lies and rots like a worthless twig or parasite, which hinders the growth of the tree.

²⁰ Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people. The seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. — thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, his punishment reaching even beyond his death, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people, making it the instrument of his tyrannical lust of conquest; the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned, his race becoming extinct as godless and cursed.

²¹ Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.” — prepare slaughter for their children for the iniquity of their fathers, on whose account a dynasty shall be destroyed, that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities, preventing them from establishing their dominion and regaining their former power.

²² “For I will rise up against them,” saith the Lord of hosts, “and cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and son and grandson,” saith the Lord. — for the Lord of hosts will rise against them, against the children of the Babylonish monarch; and cut off from them their name and remnant, all the descendants that are left; any son or nephew.

²³ “I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction,” saith the Lord of hosts. — God will also make it, the site of Babylon, a possession for the bittern, or an animal something like the porcupine which inhabits the wastes of the Euphrates Valley, and pools of water, swamps resulting from the annual overflow of the river.

²⁴ The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, “Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand; — the Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as He had disposed or planned, so shall it come to pass, and so shall it stand.

²⁵ that I will break the Assyrian in My land, and upon My mountains tread him under foot. Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.” — God will break the Assyrian in his land, overthrowing his power within the boundaries of Judah, particularly the mountains which were round about Jerusalem; and upon his mountains tread him under foot;

— then shall his yoke depart from off them, namely, the inhabitants of Judah, and his burden depart from off their shoulders, so that the design of the invader could not be accomplished.

²⁶ This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. — this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; the Targum says, “all the inhabitants of the earth” in the counsel of the Lord, in whose hand is the government of the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations, and every decree of the Lord has significance “on all kingdoms” that is, for all men.

²⁷ For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? — if the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And if his hand is stretched out, who shall turn it back? 

²⁸ In the year that King Ahaz died was this burden: — in about 727 BC the year that King Ahaz died, was this burden, this sentence of judgement upon the Philistines, who just at this time prepared to regain their ancient power:

²⁹ “Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. — rejoice thou not, whole Palestina, that is, Philistia, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken, the Philistines being of the opinion that the alliance of Syria and the Northern Kingdom, as a consequence of which Ahaz and Judah had become vassals of Assyria, II Kings 16:5-9, had resulted in breaking the power of Judah, which had only just before that been asserted by Uzziah, II Chronicles 26:6; 

— for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, that is, an adder, a still more poisonous serpent, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent, the reference probably being to Hezekiah, who promptly smote the Philistines and definitely brought about their destruction, II Kings 18:8.

³⁰ And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. — and the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety, that is, the inhabitants of Judah would enjoy peace and safety under the reign of God over Philistia; but God will kill thy root with famine, thus eradicating the Philistines as a people, and he shall slay thy remnant, thereby carrying out his punishment upon the ancient enemies of Judah.

³¹ Howl, O gate! Cry, O city! Thou, whole Philistia art dissolved! For there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.” — Howl, O gate! the strong fortifications of the Philistine cities being meant. Cry, O city! Ashdod and Gaza having retained much of their ancient glory. Thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved, melting away to nothing; 

— for there shall come from the North a smoke, namely, the Assyrian hordes with their ruthless devastations, and none shall be alone in his appointed times, literally, “and none is by himself in his armies,” the Assyrian soldiers knowing neither weariness nor insubordination, but all filled with that one idea the lust of conquest.

³² What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? “That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall trust in it.” — what shall one answer the messengers of the nation? What answer do the messengers of the nation bring? What report did the ambassadors of various nations make when they returned to their own land after viewing the results of God’s punishment of Philistia and His protection of Judah? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall trust in it, the troubled refugees being safe within its walls. In this way the Lord protects those who believe in Him against all enemies, He Himself being their Refuge and Strength.

Posted in Isaiah

The Scriptures are often shrouded in cryptic languages; as usual a prophecy of Isaiah will start with the house of Judah and Jerusalem then spread to the house of Israel and soon it includes many prophecies concerning other nations surrounding the region. Our challenge is to decrypt them, especially as it relates to the latter days, our days.

Isaiah 11

¹ And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. — and there shall come forth a Rod, a fresh shoot or twig, out of the stem of Jesse; he is called a “rod” either because of his unpromising appearance, arising “out of the stem of Jesse” from him, in the line of David, out of the stock and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 4:12; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15, the root-stock being all that was left of the former grandeur of David’s house, the renewal of his family by this singular Scion would indeed be a miracle;

— second, he is called a “rod” probably he is an instrument of executing a punishment from the hand of the Father to horsewhip his children; the Targum agrees, paraphrasing the words thus, “and a King shall come forth from the sons of Jesse.”

² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” — and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him; the rod and branch, the King Messiah, so qualifying him for his office, and the discharge of his duty with the fullness of His divine power;

— the Spirit of wisdom, which searches all things, even the secrets of God, and understanding, able to make the proper distinction concerning all things, the Spirit of counsel, by whom the Messiah is endowed to be the Counselor, and might, for Christ is the mighty God, Isaiah 7:6, the Spirit of knowledge, by means of which He is familiar with all the mysteries of God;

— and of the fear of the Lord, yea “of the fear of the Lord” even the Son has to pay homage to God the Father, the “only true God” praying to His heavenly Father and seeking His leadership, and He was and is to fear the Lord, his father, according to His divine nature united with Him in an everlasting union as One;

— that night, the night he was betrayed, he had two desires but his requests were denied (1) his desire to eat the Passover with his disciples; (2) his desire for the “cup” to be removed from him (for more see THAT NIGHT COULDN’T BE THE FOURTEENTH!

³ and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears. — Rashi: and he shall be animated by the fear of the Lord: He shall be filled with the fear of the Lord; that is, even the Son is motivated by the fear of the Lord, Yehovah; the “only true God” John 17:3.

— Q, how did the Son (the only begotten Son) came into being? Also, could there be another ‘son’ that went bad?

— He is highly pleased when men bring to Him the sacrifice of their fear of God; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears, rendering judgement not according to external appearances, rather according to His understanding of the heart and soul;

⁴ But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. — but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, His Savior’s-interest turning especially to the lowly, to those who bear the enmity of the world on account of their faith with the proper meekness, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, taking the part of those who are persecuted for their confession’s sake; 

— and He, the Son, shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth; the ministration of his word, the rod of his strength, rebuking and horsewhipping in a most emphatic manner the hostility of the disobedient world, and with the breath of His lips, His Word, which bears almighty power, shall He slay the wicked, overthrowing the power of Satan and revealing the true character of the Kingdom of God.

⁵ And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. — and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins and faithfulness, upon which His believers may rely with full confidence, the girdle of His reins; he was faithful to God, that appointed him as King and Head of the Kingdom; faithful as a Prophet, in declaring his mind and will; and is a faithful High Priest, holding up His clothes at His hips.

⁶ “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. — the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them, a figurative representation of ideal spiritual conditions; the Targum introduces in this manner, “in the days of the Messiah of Israel, peace shall be multiplied in the earth.”

⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. — during the Millenium the cow and the bear shall feed, all the bloodthirstiness of the latter forgotten; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, his nature so completely changed that he is no longer a carnivorous, but a herbivorous animal.

⁸ And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. — and the sucking child, the unweaned infant, shall play on the hole of the asp, on the entrance of the adder’s cave, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den, or stretch out his arm to touch the sparkling eye of the basilisk, the poisonous serpents having lost all their vicious habits. All this poetic description is now explained.

⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. — they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, all the members of God’s kingdom, whose former state was characterized by the comparison with the various animals named above, would lose and lay aside their hostile habits toward one another;

— for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Knowledge of Yehovah, love and fear of God, is the motive in all acts of all believers; because they fear the Lord, because they know Him the one true God, and the Messiah, Yeshua or Jesus Christ, whom He has sent as the Savior of the world, therefore they, the inhabitants of His holy mountain, the members of His Kingdom, who previously live in the midst of a hateful and hostile world, now live together in peace and harmony.

¹⁰ “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand for an ensign of the people; to It shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious.” — and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, that same wonderful Scion, the Son of David spoken as a most proper person “the Gentiles seek” to be consulted on all occasions, he being the wonderful Counsellor, Isaiah 9:6.

¹¹ And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. — and it shall come to pass in that day, before the Millenium, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time, stretching it out as once before when He led His chosen people out of Egypt, to recover the remnant of His people which shall be left, not, only the believers of Israel and Judah, but those from all the nations of the world;

— from Assyria, the mighty nation in the, valley of the Euphrates, and from Egypt, the empire toward the southwest, and from Pathros, Upper Egypt, and from Cush, or Ethiopia, and from Elam, Southern Media, and from Shinar, Southern Mesopotamia, and from Hamath, the country or province on the Orontes, north of Palestine, and from the islands of the sea, an expression which refers to the entire coast of the Mediterranean and the adjacent countries;

— see also Isaiah 49:22 where will lift up his hand to the Gentiles; to lift up the hand is a sign of beckoning to, or inviting; that God would call the Gentiles to partake of the blessings of the true religion and to embrace the Messiah; could this period also coincide with Ezekiel 390/40 years?)

¹² And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. — and He shall set up an ensign for the nations, around which all the believers might rally, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, those of remnant of the house of Israel, his people among the ten tribes; and gather together the dispersed from the house of Judah, the Jews, from the four corners or wings of the earth so that they will march under His banner, united in spirit, though outwardly separated by race and language and customs.

¹³ The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. — the envy also of Epraim shall depart, this hostility having been the chief factor in keeping up the division of the nation during the time of the kings in the Old Testament, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Epraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim, that is, the children of Israel would then be a perfect and harmonious union, its various parts living together in perfect harmony.

¹⁴ But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall despoil them of the east together. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them. — but they, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, shall fly upon the shoulders of the Phillstines toward the west, this nation being the embodiment of the fiercest hostility since the early history of Israel; they, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, shall spoil them of the east together, the Bedouin hordes of Arabia; 

— they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, which is today’s Jordan, conquering the country of these ancient enemies; and the children of Ammon shall obey them, literally, “their obedience.” These scenarios show the manner in which the Lord, through His Kingdom will judge and destroy His enemies. The Last Day will spell their doom, and the children of Jacob, the remnants left of the Day of the Lord, will be present to celebrate their victory.

¹⁵ And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea; and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams and make men go over dryshod. — and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; a bay of the Egyptian sea, so called because in the form of a tongue; or the fork of the Arabian Gulf known as the Red Sea as at the time when the children of Israel left the house of their bondage; 

— and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, over the Euphrates, and shall smite it in the seven streams, separating it into seven shallow brooks, and make men go over dry-shod, walking through its bed on sandals; in references the Lord here promises to the spiritual people of God a wonderful salvation, like that out of Egypt or out of the captivity of Assyria;

— and so the Targum says, “and the Lord shall dry up the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and shall lift up the stroke of his strength upon Euphrates, by the word of his prophets” and this designs the destruction of the land of the Muslims which is signified by the drying up of the river Euphrates; that is, from the Nile to the Euphrates would the house of Israel and the house of Judah return to.

¹⁶ And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people who shall be left from Assyria, as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. — and there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, cast up or purposely built for the believers in the Lord’s Kingdom, which shall be left, from Assyria, permitting the captives to return to their inheritance; 

— far more than it was to Israel in the day that the house of Jacob came up out of the land of Egypt. This redemption of His people out of the hand of all enemies and oppressors is the last great deed of the Messiah, and its completion will usher in the peace and glory of eternity. In this way the despised Branch out of the house of David established His kingdom, which, although jeered at on all sides, will still conquer in the end.

Isaiah 12

¹ And in that day thou shalt say: “O Lord, I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comforted me. — and in that day, when the redemption of the spiritual Israel, of the Kingdom of God, shall be completed, thou shalt say, the Saviour triumphant breaking forth in a song of praise;

— O Lord, I will praise Thee, my Lord, my Redeemer and my Saviour; though Thou wast angry with me, in a just wrath over the natural sinfulness of those whose redemption was perfected, Thine anger is turned away, through the atonement made by Christ, and Thou comfortest me, the fact of the salvation gained through the Messiah is the highest consolation of the believers in time and eternity.

² Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.” — behold, my God Is my Salvation, literally, “Behold the God of my salvation,” Him who planned and carried out the redemption of a world lost in sin; I will trust, placing full reliance upon His promise of help, and not be afraid, not being brought to shame on account of the confidence resting in Him; 

— for the Lord Yehovah is my Strength, giving full evidence of His power in redeeming His people, and my Song, the object of His elect’s endless praise; He also is become my Salvation, the blessings of which are now enjoyed by all in the Kingdom of God.

³ Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation; — therefore with Joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation, partaking of its benefits richly and endlessly. “At the Feast of Tabernacles water was drawn from the fountain of Siloam for a drink-offering. From the priest that so brought it with solemnity into the Temple, another took it, and, while pouring out the water, used the words of our text.”

⁴ and in that day shall ye say: “Praise the Lord! Call upon His name! Declare His doings among the people; make mention that His name is exalted. — and in that day, while enjoying the fullness of the redemption, shall ye say, the prophet here addressing all the members of the Kingdom of God, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, loudly proclaiming the miracles of His redemption, declare His doings among the Gentiles, making them known throughout the earth, make mention that His name be exalted, their only Saviour and Redeemer, thus giving all glory to Him.

— God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; more on this at the end)

⁵ Sing unto the Lord, for He hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. — sing unto the Lord, in psalms, hymns and songs, for He hath done excellent things, proving His excellence and majesty in the various acts of His redemption; this is known in all the earth, it should be announced to all mankind.

⁶ Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion! For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” — Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; singing aloud with the high praises of God in their mouth, from the mountain where the house of true divine worship warn located; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee, as the Giver of victory and the Fountain of life. Thus this wonderful hymn, modeled after so many psalms of praise in the Old Testament, especially that sung upon the delivery of the children of Israel at the hands of Pharaoh, Exodus 15:1-18, sets forth the joy of the redeemed of the Lord, of the Chosen triumphant, when entering upon the blessings of eternal redemption.

~~~

More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late comer.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name. Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

Posted in Isaiah

This prophecy of Isaiah starts some cryptic messages about the prophecised coming of the Messiah; in Galilee, people who live in the dark but were privileged to see a great light.

The Q remains; if these chapters are prophetic, who then are the Assyrians to punich Isreal? Are they the Germans? If so, how would this play out?

Isaiah 9

¹ Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more grievously afflicted her by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. — nevertheless, the (dimness) gloom of those people shall not be such as was in her vexation; these words may be rendered, “for there shall be no weariness to him that straitens” or “afflicts” them; so could refer to the king of Assyria; or Titus Vespasian, who would not be weary of, but tirelessly in carrying on the siege of Jerusalem and in distressing the Jews in all parts of Judea, including the land of Zebulun and Naphtali: 

— as shown in Matthew 4:12-17, this prophecy was literally fulfilled during the Galilean ministry of Yeshua, when He made Capernaum the center of activities and from there set forth on His journeys, not only throughout Galilee, but also into the country east of Jordan, by the way of the sea;

— in Galilee of the nations; which was inhabited not only by Jews, but by persons of other nations; now these places suffered much in the wars between the Jews and the Romans; and all Galilee, were lightly esteemed of, being mean and illiterate, not famous for any arts or sciences and having no prophet among them, should, in the days of the Messiah be highly honoured and made glorious by his presence, ministry and miracles performed there; Matthew 14:13.

² The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. — the people that walked in Galilee have seen a great light; the inhabitants of Galilee in the times of the Messiah; see Matthew 4:16 John 1:48 and is a true character of all the people of Galilee are in a state of darkness;

— have seen a great light, the prophet, speaking as the mouthpiece of the eternal and omniscient God, views the Messiah there had seen a great light, for so certain is the fulfillment of God’s promise.

³ Thou hast multiplied the nation and not increased the joy; they joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. — Thou hast multiplied the nation, that is, with light, knowledge, honour and glory, even Galilee of the nations; so the prophet addresses the Lord in a direct hymn of praise, since He, beginning with Galilee, extended the circle of believers in Him until His Church was spread over the whole world;

— and not increased the joy, or “to whom Thou didst not magnify the joy,” the reference once more being to the time of great sorrow and distress under heathen conditions; they rejoice before Thee according to the joy in harvest, when the sacrificial feasts were eaten by grateful worshipers, Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 14:26, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil, after a victorious campaign against their enemies.

⁴ For Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. — for Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, the spiritual slavery with which the people were burdened, and the staff of his shoulder, the reference being to the cudgel of the overseer in striking the back of the slave;

— the rod of his oppressor, with which the people were kept in subjection, as in the day of Midian, Judges 7:15-22. Even as the Lord, at the time of Gideon, had delivered Israel from the oppression of the Midianites in a miraculous manner, so He effected a deliverance from everlasting bondage, from spiritual slavery, so the Messiah overcame all the enemies of mankind and now divides the spoil among the believers everywhere.

⁵ For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. — for every battle of the warrior is with confused noise…. with the sound of the trumpet and as now with beating of drums, and the huzzas and shoutings of the soldiers, the stamping and neighing of horses, the rushing of chariots, and rumbling of wheels, and the clashing of swords, spears, and shields, and these sometimes striking one against another;

— and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire, literally: “For every greave” (armor, especially to protect the feet and legs) “of him who girds on his armor with noise, and the soldier’s cloak rolled in blood, it shall become a burning, food for the fire.” With the coming of the Messiah spiritual oppression and slavery, wrath, punishment and judgement will be brought to an end, for His deliverance is a perfect, an everlasting salvation.

⁶ For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. — for unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, the eternal Word being made flesh for us, not only in our stead, but for our benefit, for the eternal salvation of all believers; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, the absolute and unlimited power, the divine authority in its fullest sense, rests upon Him, He is, from His birth, in complete possession of the eternal power and Godhead; 

— and His name shall be called Wonderful, not only His birth, but His entire essence being a miracle, Counselor, for He not only knows the right and proper counsel in every difficulty of body and soul, He also carries out His plans for the benefit of men, the Mighty God, for the Messiah, true man as He is, is at the same time above all, God blessed forever, altogether identical with Yehovah;

— the Everlasting Father, this description isn’t in the Septuagint nor in the Targum; so what could we make of this? The Messiah, the Son of God has never been described as the Father anywhere else in the Scriptures. Is this not the lying pen of the scribes as described in Jeremiah 8:8? Is this another one of the self-deceptions of rabbinical Judaism to keep themselves blinded (who claim that King Hezekiah fulfilled this prophecy)?

— the Prince of Peace, the true Shiloh, Genesis 49:10, who has restored the right relation between God and man, making peace by abolishing in His flesh the enmity which existed since the fall of man, Ephesians 2:14-15.

— the full Targum says, “The prophet said to the house of David, For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and He has taken the law upon Himself to keep it. His name is called from eternity, Wonderful, The Mighty God, who liveth to eternity, The messiah, whose peace shall be great upon us in His days” — yes, this verse confirms the Messiah had been prophesised but nothing about ‘the Everlasting Father’ and he was to be born, the Son and He was from eternity to eternity;

— the Targum is an indispensable source of understanding the Bible. Started by Ezra for those returning Jews from Babylon and for these returnees they could only understand the Sacred Text in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to them in ancient times and to us today from the verses quoted.

⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His Kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. — of the increase of His government, in extending the boundaries of His spiritual kingdom, and peace there shall be no end, that is, He brings about a condition of eternal peace between God and man, 

— upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, for the kingdom of David continued and established in order to establish the foundation for the Kingdom of God with judgement and with justice from henceforth even forever; 

— the zeal of the Lord of hosts, the eagerness of His love in seeking the salvation of mankind, will perform this. All this was fulfilled in the Son of God, of whom the angel says: “He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. 

⁸ The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. — the Lord sent a word into Jacob, a warning against His people, and it hath lighted upon Israel, falling from heaven like a morsel intended for the whole nation. God revealed His intention to His servant, and by the preaching of the prophet it reached the place for which it was intended.

⁹ And all the people shall know—even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria” that say in the pride and stoutness of heart: — and all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, the northern kingdom with its capital being emphatically mentioned first, as being leaders in disobedience and haughtiness, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart.

¹⁰ “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.” — evangelical Jonathan Cahn has lots to say about this verse: the bricks of the World Trade Center had fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars, that is, they intended to replace their former lowly dwellings of dried clay and the cheap wood of the sycamore fig-tree by splendid palaces of stone and costly cedar-wood. It is the height of presumption and blasphemous pride if men scorn the punishment of the Lord;

— and notice this is speaking of Ephraim, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, one who has lots of “pride and stoutness of heart,” verse 9 above, Ephraim refering not to the United Kingdom but the United States.

¹¹ Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him and join his enemies together, — therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, namely, the Assyrians, who, according to God’s plan, conquered Syria took Rezin the king of Syria, and then advanced upon the northern kingdom, Ephraim, and join his enemies together, rather, Yehovah will stir up Ephraim’s enemies against him;

— Q, is this a prophecy for the endtime or an historical record?

¹² the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. — the Syrians before, for as allies of the Assyrians they would attack Israel from the east, and the Philistines behind, for these ancient enemies made use of every opportunity to wreak vengeance upon Israel and Judah, Cf II Chronicles 28:16-19; 

— and they shall devour Israel with open mouth, eating with a full mouth, pillaging the land almost to the point of destruction. Thus the Lord punishes the pride of unrepentant sinners. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. The misfortunes here described were but the beginning of the great destruction which would strike the entire nation for its disobedience, and so the Lord would not withdraw His chastening hand;

— “and they shall devour Israel with open mouth” Q: Could this refer to the captivity of Israel for 190 years and Judah for forty years as phrophecised by Ezekeil in the latter days? Ezekiel 4 – 390/40 Years.

¹³ For the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. — for the people turneth not unto God the Almighty that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. The object of His punishment, therefore, is not realized, they refuse to repent of their sins and thus give Him a new cause for harsher punishment for them;

— not many repent even with Covid-19 now with more than 5 million deaths! Q: should we expect a more potent variant killer to emerge in the near future?

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. — therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel, in wreaking His final vengeance upon the rebellious people, head and tail; the head being interpreted as “the ancient and honourable” men in high places, civil magistrates, judges, governors, and elders of the people, the king as supreme, and all subordinate officers; and so the Targum says, “the Lord will destroy from Israel the prince and the ruler;”

— branch and rush, in one day, “great and small” like branches of trees; the latter the common, people, like reeds and rushes, weak and feeble; “the strong and the weak” in one great destruction.

¹⁵ The ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. — the ancient and honorable, the princes and nobles of the people, he is the head; and the false prophet and false shepherds that teacheth lies, he is the tail. The false prophets considered themselves leaders among the people, but they are here told, with bitter irony, that they are morally the basest of the people, the vilest part of the nation.

¹⁶ For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led by them are destroyed. — for the leaders of this people cause them to err, thereby showing themselves utterly unfit for leadership; and they that are led of them are destroyed, literally, “swallowed up,” namely, by the error and its peril, just as the humble rush must perish if submerged and covered with a flood of filthy water.

¹⁷ Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. — therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, the All-powerful, who formerly granted success to the arms of Israel’s young men, would withdraw His assistance;

— neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows, who formerly had been the special objects of His fostering care; for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer; that is, corrupt, atrociously bad, inclined to every form of wickedness, 

— and every mouth speaketh folly, and every mouth speaketh folly; or falsehood; a lie, as the Targum says as all lies are foolish; as also all vain words, all impious ones; or the savour of irreligion or superstition, and indeed every idle word, and all unsavoury and corrupt speech, and there is particularly foolish talking, which is not convenient; for all this His anger Is not turned away, but His hand Is stretched out still, ready to apply further punishment.

¹⁸ For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. — for wickedness burneth as the fire, challenging God to continue in His course of punishment, bringing forth its own destruction; it shall devour the briers and thorns, the great mass of the lowly people, who have become weeds and thistles on the face of the earth;

— and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, of the standing timber, of the upper classes of Israel, and they shall mount up, the fire lifting them up in a heavy column, like the lifting up of smoke. Thus the fire of God’s wrath, growing out of the nation’s wickedness, would bring destruction upon the entire people, the picture being that of a devastating forest-fire.

¹⁹ Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall spare his brother. — through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, but the Septuagint version renders it, “the whole land is burned” – burned out to ashes, utterly destroyed and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire to be devoured without mercy; no man shall spare his brother for selfishness takes account only of its own safety, disregarding all considerations of charity, patriotism and kinship.

²⁰ And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. — and he (impersonal subject; his hand, his teeth), that is, every man, shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry, like a beast snapping in every direction; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm, the members of his own family and tribe:

— the Targum says, “he shall spoil on the south, and still be hungry; and he shall destroy on the north, and not be satisfied.” Q, just curious, could this Targum version refers to the killings from the South to the North as in Ezekiel 20:45 to 21:5?

²¹ Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. — Manasseh, Ephraim; and Epraim, Manasseh, in a form of deep hatred or civil war in which every man’s hand would be turned against his neighbor; 

— and they together shall be against Judah, for the hatred which obtained between Israel and Judah continued in the nation even as late as the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, when their murderous selfishness reached its climax. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still; for if sinners will not heed His warning here in time, His destruction will be upon them throughout eternity;

— which is to be understood of their quarrels, contentions, and wars among themselves, whereby they bit, devoured, and consumed each other, though they were brethren; which explains and confirms what is before said, of no man sparing his brother, and everyone eating the flesh of his own arm. The Targum paraphrases the words thus;

— the Septuagint says “Manasseh” shall eat or devour “Ephraim” and “Ephraim” shall eat or devour “Manasseh” — the Targum paraphrases the words, thus, “they of the house of “Manasseh” with those of the house of “Ephraim” and they of the house of “Ephraim” with those of the house of “Manasseh” shall be joined together as one, to come against them of the house of Judah.”

Isaiah 10

¹ “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed — woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees; against lawgivers and judges, political rulers and governors of the people, that made unrighteous laws; 

— in tyrannical legislation, laws which were not agreeable to the law of God, nor right reason; and were injurious to the persons and properties of men; and that write grievousness which they have prescribed, making and enforcing laws which bring unbearable oppressions to the poor of the land,

² to turn aside the needy from judgement and to take away the right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! — to turn aside the needy from judgement, that is, to deprive them of their rights, of the justice due them, were harassed with such long, vexatious, and expensive suits; and to take away the right from the poor of My people, willfully and maliciously taking it from them;

— that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless, the tyrants making themselves possessors of the property of the defenseless. They have reached the very heights of oppression and injustice.

³ And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? And where will ye leave your glory? — and what will ye do in the day of visitation, when God will visit their injustice upon them, and in the desolation, the sudden storm, crash, and collapse; and so the Targum says, “what will ye do in the day that your sins shall be visited upon you?”

— which shall come from far? It is here hinted that God would send the enemy who should avenge the poor by destroying their oppressors from a far country. To whom will ye flee for help? this being a reference to Israel’s custom of seeking help from foreign nations. And where will ye leave your glory? that is, the treasures, valuables which they had piled up in practicing injustice and in treading down the poor.

⁴ Without Me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain.” For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. — Without Me, rather, Nothing remains; are not My people, and do not hearken to Me, but that they shall bow down as captives; they would either be bound and carried captive, or else slain with the sword; their lot being even worse than that of other captives;

— and they shall fall under the slain, trodden under foot by others, hewn down in cold blood by their captors. Such is the lot of those who were formerly honorable and powerful, but abused their authority by tyrannical measures. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still, for it is impossible to escape the punishment of the Lord when once He sets out to pronounce His judgement on the wrongs committed against the poor and defenseless.

⁵ “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation! — O Assyrian, the rod of God’s anger, because they were made use of by God as an instrument to chastise and correct Israel for their sins; and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation, literally, “Woe to Asshur (which is) the rod of My wrath, and the staff, that in their hand, Mine indignation.” The Lord here pronounces a woe upon Assyria; for whereas He wanted to use this nation merely as His instrument in punishing Israel, the Assyrians took the opportunity to gratify their own lust for conquest and bloodshed.

⁶ I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. — God will send the Assyrian against an hypocritical nation, Israel, a nation corrupt and wicked, and against the people of His wrath will God give the Assyrian a charge, bidding them to smite Israel for her sins;

— to take the spoil and to take the prey and to tread them down like the mire of the streets, destroy their power, render them utterly helpless. So much the charge of the Lord to Assyria included, not, indeed, as if the Lord had sent this command by some messenger, but that He places even the heathen nations into His service to carry out His plans, to punish the disobedient;

— Q. if this is prophetic, who then are the Assyrians to punich Isreal? Are they the Germans? If so, how would this play out?

⁷ Yet he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. — howbeit he, that is, Assyria, meaneth not so, does not hold the same idea that the Lord holds, neither doth his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few, that is, Assyria was driven only by the thought of conquest and destruction and therefore was guilty before God, even while carrying out His plans.

— another way of saying, the Assyrian purposes, intentions and thoughts were not as the Lord’s; they did not imagine that they weres only the rod of God’s anger and the staff of his indignation, an instrumant of his wrath. The selfish and blameworthy pride of Assyria is now described; their plans are no less to be condemned though they by them unwittingly fulfill God’s designs.

⁸ For he saith, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings? — for he asked, Are not my princes and  commanders altogether kings? Assyria was a world-power, and even its provinces had the extent and the might of kingdoms, so that their governors could well rank with kings.

⁹ Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? — is not Calno, a large city on the Tigris, as Carchemish, an important commercial center on an island in the Euphrates? Rashi: “as the children of Carchemish are princes and rulers, so are the children of Calno;”

— is not Ramath, an important city and formerly a capital on the Orontes, as Arpad, a city in Syria proper? Is not Samaria as Damascus? Three pairs of cities are named in such a way that boasting Assyria emphasizes the great ease with which its conquests were made.

¹⁰ As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols and whose graven images excelled them of Jerusalem and of Samaria, — as the hand of Assyria hath found Israel, the kingdoms of the idols, conquering those upon whom the people of Israel and Judah looked down as idol-worshipers, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria, being more plentiful than they and therefore supposedly better able to defend their cities;

— from the Message Bible:

“Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger. My wrath is a club in his hands! I send him against a godless nation, against the people I’m angry with. I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind, and then push their faces in the mud and leave them. But Assyria has another agenda; he has something else in mind. He’s out to destroy utterly, to stamp out as many nations as he can. Assyria says, ‘Aren’t my commanders all kings? Can’t they do whatever they like? Didn’t I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish? Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus? I’ve eliminated kingdoms full of gods far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria. So what’s to keep me from destroying Jerusalem in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?’”

¹¹ shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?’” — shall the Assyrian not, as they has done unto Samaria and her idols, which had been destroyed in the sacking of the city, do so to Jerusalem and her idols? The God of Jerusalem, so the speaker boastfully asserts, would no more be able to protect this city titan the gods of the other cities had succeeded in doing. Cf. Isaiah 36:18-20; Isaiah 37:11-13. This blasphemous boast could not remain unpunished, as the Lord now shows.

¹² Therefore it shall come to pass when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem: “I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria and the glory of his high looks. — wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, Assyria being His instrument of chastisement upon those whom He had chosen for His people, and a remnant of whom remained true to Him in the general apostasy and now bowed under His chastening hand;

— I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, the blasphemous pride which showed itself in his boasting, and the glory of his high looks, literally, “the haughtiness of the loftiness of his eyes,” the description showing the self-complacent nature of his assumed glory; the Targum says, “and it shall be, when the Lord hath finished to do all that he hath said in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem.”

¹³ For he saith, “‘By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; and I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. — for the king of Assyria saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, ascribing his success entirely to his own ability; for I am prudent, always making use of proper understanding; 

— and the king of Assyria continued his boasting: I have removed the bounds of the people, changing their boundaries to suit himself, and have robbed their treasures, taking at will everything that they had accumulated, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man, butting down those occupying thrones like a mighty hero or an angry steer.

¹⁴ And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.’” — the king of Assyria continued: my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, locating them with an experienced hand; and as one gathereth eggs that are left, forsaken by the mother bird, 

— have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, in defense, or opened the mouth, or peeped, in terrified protest. All nations had bowed in dumb resignation under the hand of the mighty Assyrian, and for this he took all credit to himself. But the prophet counters with a reproof of bitter irony:

¹⁵ Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood! — Isaiah asked: shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify Itself against him that shaketh it, drawing it to and fro in severing the wood? It is just as foolish for a tool to boast over against the workman as for the king of Assyria to ascribe to himself all the might which he possesses only by divine permission;

— Isaiah continued: as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood, literally, “as if a staff should lift up” (that which is) “not wood,” that is, the person handling it. That rod or staff should lift up or shake those who have hold of them presents the very extreme of absurd presumption. So it was utterly absurd for the king of Assyria, who, although unknown to himself, carried out God’s punishment upon Israel, to ascribe to himself the wisdom and power, the design and success of this campaign. The very evil in the world is used by God to serve His objects. Cf Genesis 50:20. The punishment upon Assyria is now pronounced:

¹⁶ Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among His fat ones leanness; and under His glory He shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. — therefore shall the Lord, the All-powerful, the Lord of hosts, who commands the untold legions of heaven, send among his fat ones leanness, consuming the mighty ones of Assyria, and under his glory He shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire, to consume it in a moment, with a mighty crackling and hissing.

¹⁷ And the Light of Israel shall be for a fire and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day, — and the Light of Israel, the Holy One of Israel Himself, shall be for a fire and His Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day, the Assyrian nation being devoured in one great destruction,

¹⁸ and shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth. — and shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field; the Assyrian army is compared to a “forest” the majesty of his leaders and the wealth of his merchants, both soul and body, in a complete destruction; the Targum says, “the glory of the multitude of his army, and their souls with their bodies, it shall consume.”

¹⁹ And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. — and the rest of the trees of his forest, the few that have survived the devastation of the fire, shall be few, that a child may write them, put down the number which he easily counted. Thus the Lord, even in the midst of His enemies, has some few whom He has chosen, who are saved in the general destruction which will come upon the unbelievers.

²⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again depend upon him that smote them, but shall stand upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. — and it shall come to pass in that day; here begins a prophecy relating to the house of Israel, concerning things that should befall them in the latter days, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, whom He has chosen from among the nations;

— shall no more again stay among the Assyrian who smote them, placing their confidence in Assyria, the nation to whom the kings of both Israel and Judah turned time and again, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, making Him alone the full basis of their trust. The Targum say “they shall no more lean on the people whom they served; but they shall lean upon the Word of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.”

²¹ The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. — in the latter days, the remnant shall return, even the remnant of the full house of Jacob shall return to the true worship before the Almighty God.

²² For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the consuming decreed shall overflow with righteousness. — for though thy people, Israel be as numerous as the sand of the sea, a countless multitude, yet only a remnant of them shall return, unfortunately only a remnant, the great mass being killed by the Sword coming from the South Ezekiel 20:45 to 21:5.

²³ For the Lord God of hosts shall cause a consuming, even determined, in the midst of all the land. — for the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, that is, most are killed, even extermined, “and that which is decreed,” in the midst of all the land;

— there is no escaping the wrath of the Lord when once He sets the machineries of destruction are in motion, when He begins to carry out judgement upon Israel and issuing His decree of punishment is merely a preliminary act and the beginning of His Kingdom.

²⁴ Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts: “O My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian. He shall smite thee with a rod and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. — therefore, because the Lord will judge and destroy the unbelieving world, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, in a call full of reassuring comfort, O My people that dwellest in Zion, those that had fled to Jerusalem, dwelling in His merciful presence, be not afraid of the Assyrian, the oppressor typifying all the enemies of the children of Israel; 

— he Assyrian shall smite thee with a rod, with tyrannical behavior, and shall lift up his staff against thee, like an overseer of slaves, after the manner of Egypt, when the children of Israel were in the house of bondage and suffered severely from their oppressors. In the midst of all these afflictions the believers should not let fear and terror possess their hearts.

²⁵ For yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease, and Mine anger in their destruction.” — yet for a very little while, and the indignation ceases, God’s people being delivered from the enmity of the godless, and Mine anger in their destruction, rather, “My wrath has the object to destroy them,” the enemies of His Chosen, to wear them down to nothing;

— the Targum says, “for yet a very little while, and the curses shall cease from you of the house of Jacob; and mine anger shall be upon the people that work iniquity, to destroy them” that is, the Assyrians.

²⁶ And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as His rod was upon the sea, so shall He lift it up after the manner of Egypt. — and the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for the Assyrians, according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb, when Gideon’s forces annihilated the army of the Midianites, Judges 7:25; 

— and as His rod was upon the sea, namely, when Moses stretched out his hand over the Red Sea and parted it for the safe passage of the children of Israel, Exodus 14:26, so shall He lift it up after the manner of Egypt, lifting Assyria up and dashing it to pieces as He destroyed the forces of Pharaoh.

²⁷ And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. — and it shall come to pass in the latter day, before the time of the Messiah’s reign, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder and his yoke from off thy neck, the Lord Himself taking away the oppression of Assyria, of all the enemies of the house of Jacob, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing, rather, on account of the fat;

— the picture is that of an ox who becomes so fat and strong in spite of the yoke laid upon him that he breaks the yoke on his neck to pieces. Thus the Church is to overcome the world by strength from within. Thus the deliverance of the Church is described as it begins in and with Immanuel, and as it is completed on the Last Day, the day of redemption. The prophet now, in a very vivid picture, describes the progress of the Assyrians in attacking Jerusalem, and their complete destruction by Yehovah.

²⁸ He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his baggage. — the Assyrian and his army is to come to Aiath, hardly ten miles northeast of Jerusalem, he is passed to Migron, a hamlet still nearer to the capital; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages, leaving the baggage in order to move forward with greater speed.

²⁹ They are gone over the passage; they have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. — they are gone over the passage, a deep, rough ravine, now known as the Wady-es-Suweinit; they have taken up their lodging at Geba, rather, “Let Geba be our lodging!” halting only for the night; Ramah, the home of Samuel, is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled, its inhabitants forsaking their city in terror.

³⁰ Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim; cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. — lift up thy voice, crying in consternation over the impending calamity, O daughter of Gallim, the inhabitants of another village in the path of the Assyrian army; cause it to be heard unto Laish, the shrieks of terror echoing far and wide through the country. O poor Anathoth! only three-fourths of an hour distant from Jerusalem and therefore bound to suffer from the enemies.

³¹ Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. — Madmenah is removed, the people forsaking their homes; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

³² As yet shall he remain at Nob that day; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. — as yet shall the Assyrian army remain at Nob that day, a hill to the north of Jerusalem, overlooking the city, which the enemy would reach that very day; 

— the Assyrian army shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, all ready for the attack which would surely bring ruin to the capital. Thus Assyria, typifying the army of the ungodly, the enemies of the Kingdom of God, is here pictured as going forward to the attack with an irresistible force, and the doom of the city, the City of Jerusalem, seems to be impending. But here the Lord interferes.

³³ Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. — behold, the Lord, the All-powerful, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror, cutting them down as branches are felled with an ax; 

— and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled, all their plans being foiled at the very moment when they seemed to mature according to calculation.

³⁴ And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. —the Assyrian army is compared to the forest of Lebanon; and He, the Lord in His avenging wrath, shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, with a sharp instrument of destruction, and Lebanon, the name under which all the hostile forces are comprehended;

— the Assyrian army shall fall by a Mighty One, by Him who possesses the majesty of the almighty and eternal God, who is both the Defender and the Deliverer of His Kingdom.

Posted in Isaiah

The Scriptures are often shrouded in cryptic languages; as usual a prophecy of Isaiah will start with the house of Judah and Jerusalem then spread to the house of Israel and soon it includes many prophecies concerning other nations surrounding the region. Our challenge is to decrypt them, especially as it relates to the latter days, our days.

Isaiah 7

¹ And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. — and it came to pass in the days of Alias, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, II Kings 15:37; II Kings 16:5-6; II Chronicles 28:5-6, that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, who had formed an alliance, II Kings 15:37;

— and went up toward Jerusalem to war against the house of Judah, but could not prevail against it. According to the historical accounts this war took place about 743-739 BC with the preliminary advantage entirely on the side of the northern allies; for Rezin took the harbor of Elath on the Elanitic Gulf, and Pekah gained a victory over a large army of Judah. Nevertheless, Jerusalem was not taken, very likely because the allies did not even find occasion to lay siege to it; their plans were overthrown.

² And it was told the house of David, saying, “Syria is confederate with Ephraim.” And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. — and it was told the house of David, the reigning monarch of that line, in this case Ahaz, the princes of the blood, his court and counsellors; saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim, the ten tribes; depending upon the northern kingdom as a faithful ally, its armies having joined Israel’s forces to strengthen them, or being supported by them. 

— and the king’s heart was moved together with the heart of his people, both King Ahaz and all the people of Judah being frightened by the invasion, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind, their terror being intensified by their feeling of fear. Q: would such fear strike the modern states of Judah and the house of Israel today?

³ Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, “Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shearjashub [that is, The remnant shall return], thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fuller’s Field, — then the Lord said unto Isaiah, Himself taking charge of affairs in this emergency, Go forth now to meet Alias, thou and Shear-jashub (“A remnant returns”), thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, one of the reservoirs where the water of the city was stored, Isaiah 36:2, 

— in the highway of the fuller’s field, which was also situated west of the city, near the pool, this highway apparently being the main caravan road leading from Jerusalem to Joppa;

⁴ and say unto him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet. Fear not, neither be fainthearted at the two tails of these smoking firebrands — at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. — and say unto him, who was probably engaged in having the fortifications strengthened, Take heed and be quiet, perfectly unconcerned and without worry; 

— fear not, neither be faint-hearted, literally, “and thy heart, not be soft with despondency,” for the two tails of these smoking fire-brands, burned-out and quenched stumps of torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, with his whole great army, and of the son of Remaliah, as Pekah, king of Israel, is contemptuously called.

⁵ Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, — because Syria, or Aram, with its confederates, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, the northern kingdom and its ruler, have taken evil counsel against the house of Judah, saying,

⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel,” — let “a confederation of Syria with Ephraim” go up against Judah and vex it, throw it into consternation, fill it with terror, and let the Syria/Ephraim alliance make a breach therein, take the capital, and set the king of Judah in the midst of the battle, even the son of Tabeal, an unknown man, to be the vassal king of Judah, for such was the plan of the alliance:

⁷ thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. — thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, that is, the counsel they had taken against Judah to vex it, make a breach in it, and set a king of their own liking over Judah; that counsel shall not stand; neither shall it come to pass, since He Himself had decided to hinder it.

⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. — for the head of Syria, its capital and metropolis, is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years, Ephraim, the northern kingdom, shall be broken that it be not a people, that it would cease to exist as a nation.

⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.’” — and the head of Ephraim, its capital and chief city of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. The meaning of this somewhat enigmatic saying is evidently this, that both Syria and the kingdom of Israel would be confined to the territory now occupied by them, since their schemes of conquest would fail;

— moreover, Ephraim would be destroyed within the next sixty-five years, Shalmanezer of Assyria taking the majority of his people into exile in the year 722 BC and the downfall of the country being completed with the settling of the captives, about 675 BC II Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2

— if ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established, that is, if Judah, both its king and its people, would not firmly cling to God’s Word and promise, they would also cease to exist, too; they would be destroyed.

¹⁰ Moreover the Lord spoke again unto Ahaz, saying, — moreover, the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, spoke again unto Ahaz, who had not answered upon the consoling message of the Lord’s messenger, since he had already made arrangements to get the assistance of Assyria, saying, in an earnest endeavor to have him place his trust in the help of the Lord,

¹¹ “Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” — ask thee a sign of the Lord, thy God, this offer to perform a miracle being intended to confirm the promise just made; ask it either in the depth, in the underworld, in hell, or in the height above, in heaven.

— the Targum says, “ask that a miracle may be done for thee upon earth, or that a sign may be shown thee in heaven” the Lord permitted Ahaz to attach his faith to a condition named by himself, so that every excuse of unbelief would be taken from him.

¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” — but Ahaz, in wicked unbelief and hypocrisy, said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. Having already decided upon enlisting Assyria’s help, he rejected the offer of God the Almighty with a hypocritical pretext; trusting in an earthly ally; this was the very climax of obduration. When unbelief assumes the garments of piety, the effect is much more loathsome than open blasphemy and mockery.

¹³ And Isaiah said, “Hear ye now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? — and Isaiah, through whom the Lord was addressing the apostate king, said, Hear ye now, O house of David, not only the present monarch being addressed, but all his associates as well: 

— is it a small thing for you to weary men, making the prophet, who had labored so long and faithfully in trying to win him for the truth, both disgusted and weary, but will ye weary my God also? so that He also becomes filled with weariness and turns from the reprobate people in disgust and delivers them into the destruction they so deliberately sought.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. — in a significant revelation of His almighty power, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, cause a miracle to happen which would have abiding significance. Behold, an exclamation calling attention to the extraordinary prophecy now following, a virgin, literally, “the virgin,” that certain virgin whom the Lord had even now selected for this purpose, not merely an unwed woman of marriageable age as the Masoretic text says, but an undefiled maiden, Psalms 68:25; Matthew 1:25, 

— the Targum says, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call His name Immanuel.”

— the Septuagint says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel.”

— this is an example of the lying pen of the scribes in Jeremiah 8:8, “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.'”

— shall conceive, without the carnal knowledge of man, and bear a son, the event being represented as happening now, in the everlasting present of the eternal God, and shall call His name Immanuel, which is correctly interpreted by Matthew as meaning, “God with us.” This name characterizes the person, the essence, and the work of the Messiah. The son of the virgin, conceived and born a true human being, yet without sin, is at the same time true, almighty, eternal God. It is the great mystery of godliness: God manifest in the flesh, the Messiah, the true Savior, Creator, Protector and Redeemer of all men;

— and finally, it is a sign of present deliverance to Judah from the confederacy of the two kings of Syria (representing the Gentiles) and Israel (representing the ten-tribes house of Israel); and of future safety, since it was not possible that this kingdom should cease to be one until the Messiah was come, who was to spring from Judah, and be of the house of David; wherefore by how much the longer off was his birth, by so much the longer was their safety.

¹⁵ Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. — butter, the thick curdled milk, which is a favorite in the Orient, and honey shall the Messiah eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good, such would be His food beginning with the age of discretion and throughout His life, partaking, as a true human being, of the food of a desolate country.

¹⁶ For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. — for before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, before He would reach the age of adolescence, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings, rather, “desolate will be the land, of the face of whose two kings thou hast a horror,” the judgement of the Lord having been carried out upon it.

¹⁷ The Lord shall bring upon thee and upon thy people and upon thy father’s house days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah: even the king of Assyria.” —the Lord shall bring upon thee; these words are directed to Ahaz to show that though he and his kingdom would be safe from the two kings that conspired against him, yet evils should come upon him from another quarter, even from the Assyrians he sent to for help, and in whom he trusted; in which the Lord himself would have a hand, and permit them in his providence, in order to chastise him for his unbelief, stubbornness, and ingratitude in refusing the sign offered him;

— even the king of Assyria, this kingdom being introduced here as the representative of the great world powers which finally overthrew upon “thy father’s house” that is, Israel (and certain parts of Judah II Kings 18:13); but Judah was spared a hundred years over; and her disintegration began soon after with the captivity of Babylon and continued for centuries.

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. — and it shall come to pass in that day, at the time when He would send His judgement, first upon Israel then Judah;

— that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, the various canals of the Nile, and for the bee that Is in the land of Assyria; that is, the Assyrian army, so called because the country abounded with bees; and because of the number of their armies, their military order and discipline, and their hurtful and mischievous nature;

— the Targum paraphrases the whole thus, “and it shall be at that time that the Lord shall call to a people, bands of armies, of mighty men, who are numerous as flies, and shall bring them from the ends of the land of Egypt; and to mighty armies, who are powerful as bees, and shall bring them from the uttermost parts of the land of Assyria,” and with what swiftness and readiness those numerous and powerful armies should come; and the allusion is to the calling of bees out of their hives into the fields, and from thence into their hives again, by tinkling of brass, or by some musical sound, in one way or another.

¹⁹ And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns and upon all bushes. — and they shall come and shall rest, all of them as a scourge to his people in the desolate valleys, rather, in the valleys of the declivities, and in the holes of the rocks, in the clefts of the mountains, and upon all thorns and upon all bushes, in all the rich meadow-lands, with the object of devouring and destroying everything in sight;

— the Targum of the whole verse is, “and they shall all of them come and dwell in the streets of the cities, and in the clifts of the rocks, and in all deserts full of sedges, and in all houses of praise,” the sense is, that they should be in all cities, towns, and villages, whether fortified or not, and in all houses of high and low, rich and poor, in cottages and in palaces; there would be no place free from them, nor no escaping out of their hands; all caught in a snare: Ezekiel 12:13, My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare.

²⁰ In the same day shall the Lord shave with a hired razor (namely, by those beyond the river, by the king of Assyria) the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard. — in the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, through an army which He placed in His service, to carry out His will, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard, the land being depopulated and the entire body of the nation destroyed by the heathen power summoned by the Lord;

— the Targum says, “in that time the Lord shall slay them as one is slain by a sharp sword, by clubs, and by saws, by those beyond the river, and by the king of Assyria; the king, and his army, and even his rulers, together shall he destroy.”

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep; — and it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep; this seems to denote both the scarcity of men and cattle, through the ravages of the army of the Chaldeans; that there should not be large herds and flocks, only a single cow, and two or three sheep; and yet men should be so few, and families so thin, that these would be sufficient to support them comfortably.

²² and it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, that he shall eat butter, for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. — and it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk that they shall give; the cow and the two sheep, having large pastures, and few cattle to feed upon them, those few would give such abundance of milk, that the owner of them would make butter of it, and live upon it, having no occasion to eat milk; and there being few or none to sell it to;

— he shall eat butter; for butter and honey, which was abundant in the wild state, shall everyone eat that is left in the land, signifying that though they would be few, they would enjoy a plenty of food as their small flocks and herds would furnish them with. The Targum interprets this of the righteous that shall be left in the land; but it is rather to be extended unto all, righteous and unrighteous.

²³ And it shall come to pass in that day in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silverlings, that it shall be even for briers and thorns. — and it shall come to pass in that day, at the time when God’s judgment would be carried out, that every place shall be, it shall even be for briers and thorns for want of persons to stock the ground and cultivate it.

²⁴ With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briers and thorns. — with arrows and with bows shall men come thither, for fear of wild beasts, serpents, and scorpions to hunt wild beasts in the former orchards, because all the land shall become briers and thorns. Q: is this a prophecy or an historic account?

²⁵ And on all hills that shall be dug with the mattock, there shall not be a coming thither for fear of briers and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen and for the treading of lesser cattle. — and on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, which ordinarily were hoed and cultivated, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns, that is, there shall be now no fences made of briers and thorns which deter cattle from entering into fields and vineyards thus fenced; 

— but it shall be for the setting forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle; there being no fence of briers and thorns to keep them out, cattle both of the greater and lesser sort should get into the corn, and feed upon it, and make such places desolate, where much pains were taken to cultivate them. The Targum says, “it shall be for a place of lying down of oxen, and for a place of dwelling of flocks of sheep.”

Isaiah 8

¹ Moreover the Lord said unto me, “Take thee a great scroll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.” — moreover the Lord said unto Isaiah, ”Take thee a great roll,” evidently this is another prophecy, a large writing-tablet of the kind usually employed, and write in it with a man’s pen, the stylus making impressions on the wax covering the tablet in such a way that the ordinary man could read the script;

— concerning Mahershalal-hash-baz (“Make speed to the spoil Hasten to the prey”). The inscription, as made by Isaiah, was purposely enigmatic, the purpose being to arouse the interest and curiosity of the people, to make them feel that the announcement contained in these mysterious words was very important;

— the Targum says, “write in it a clear writing;” that is, very plain, explicit and legible.

² And I took unto me faithful witnesses to attest: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. — and Isaiah took unto himself faithful witnesses to record concerning the spoiling of Syria and Israel; this the Lord Himself choosing them through the prophet to be present and to testify to Isaiah’s preparing the tablet, Uriah, the priest, II Kings 16:10, and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah. These men could later, when the prophecy was fulfilled, vouch for the fact that Isaiah had written concerning the future. But in close connection with this event there was another.

³ And I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then said the Lord to me, “Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. — and I went unto the prophetess, his own wife, so called not because she prophesied but because she was the wife of a prophet; and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord to Isaiah, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the same mysterious words which had been written on the tablet almost a year before, the word signifying either “Make speed to the spoil; Hasten to the prey,” or “The spoil hastens Robbery hastens forward.”

⁴ For before the child shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father,’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away to the king of Assyria.” — for before the child shall have knowledge to cry, “My father,” and “My mother,” that is, before the passing of another year;

— the riches of Damascus (Syria) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel; II Kings 17:6) shall be taken away before Assyria, so that all their wealth would be borne as a trophy before their king. This happened about the year 739 BC; Syria being entirely overthrown, together with that part of the northern kingdom which was east of the Jordan and the beginning of Israel’s destruction.

⁵ The Lord spoke also unto me again, saying, — the Lord spoke unto Isaiah again, in a series of prophecies whose final object was rich comfort to the true believers in Judah, saying,

⁶ “Inasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, — forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, the same with Siloam, the spring and tiny brook which sprang up at the foot of the Temple-mount and with another spring, the Gihon, fed the pool Siloam;

— that go softly, with none of the boisterousness of a large stream, such as the Euphrates, the people despising the quiet manner in which the kingdom of God works in the midst of men, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, the latter statement referring chiefly to the people of the northern kingdom with their trust in the strength of men and in the power of huge armies;

— the Targum paraphrases the words thus, “because this people loathed the kingdom of the house of David which ruled them quietly, as the waters of Shiloah which flow softly.”

⁷ now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks. — now, therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon the Euphrates, usual for mighty kings, kingdoms, and armies to be signified by such waters, for their multitude and strength; typical of an entire heathen power bent upon the destruction of Israel;

— strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his power; he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks, like a mighty river overflowing at the time of the spring freshets;

— the Targum says, “therefore behold the Lord shall bring and cause to ascend upon them, the army of the people, who are many as the waters of a river, strong and mighty, the king of Assyria, and his army; and he shall come up upon all his rivers and shall overflow all his banks.”

⁸ And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.” — and, he shall pass through Judah, penetrating to its remotest ends; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck, that is, to Jerusalem: the whole land is compared to a body, of which Jerusalem was the head; the Assyrian army, comparable to the waters of a great river, overflowed the whole land, took all the fenced cities of Judah, and came up even to Jerusalem, so that the whole was in great danger of being drowned and destroyed; threatening Judah’s very life; 

— and stretching out of his wings, as the streams overflow the main channel of the river on either side, shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel, Judea, called Immanuel’s land, because the Messiah would be born there. Thus the judgement would begin in Israel and progress southward to encompass Judah as well, threatening its existence. Therefore the end of the sentence is a call for help addressed to Immanuel, the Messiah, not to forsake His people, but to remember them in his redemption.

⁹ Associate yourselves, O ye people, yet ye shall be broken in pieces! And give ear, all ye of far countries. Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces! — associate yourselves, O ye people, both of Syria and Israel, whose two kings were confederate against Judah; and ye shall be broken in pieces, for all enemies directing their attacks against the people of God will finally be destroyed; 

— and give ear, all ye of far countries, the nations inhabiting distant parts of the earth; gird yourselves, in preparing for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces. The double imperative in the Hebrew and the repetition of the command makes it all the more impressive; it places the majesty of God in contrast to the feeble endeavors of men to overthrow His power.

¹⁰ Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us. — take counsel together, against the Lord and against His people, Psalms 2:2, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, in discussing the attack, and it shall not stand, it will most certainly be frustrated; for God is with us. With Immanuel on their side, the children of God have a refuge against all enemies. Even if all the powers of this world combine to attack the Church, they are bound to suffer defeat.

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, — for the Lord spoke thus to Isaiah with a strong hand, literally, “while His hand became strong,” while His Spirit came upon the prophet with power, and instructed Isaiah that he should not walk in the way of this people, saying, namely, in warning the prophet and those who adhered to his people against the great mass of reprobates in Israel and Judah,

¹² “Say ye not, ‘A confederacy,’ to all those to whom this people shall say, ‘A confederacy’; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. — say ye not, “A confederacy,” to all them to whom this people shall say, “A confederacy,” literally, “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy,” the prophet and his disciples should not be filled with apprehension on account of the conspiracy and confederation of Syria with the northern kingdom; 

— neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid, let not the same fear possess you as does them, on account of Syria and Israel combining together against Judah; nor be afraid of their two kings as they were; since there was nothing to fear from them.

¹³ Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. — sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, giving Him the honor, setting Him apart for adoration as the almighty Ruler of the universe, and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread, that is, the object of fear and dread; not of a servile fear and dread, but of a holy reverence and godly fear; standing in awe of Him and taking care not to make Him angry by a show of little faith, for He wants the believer’s full confidence, their undivided trust.

¹⁴ And He shall be for you a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. — and the Lord of hosts shall be for a sanctuary, a safe, sheltering, holy asylum to all believers; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, causing them to fall, for a gin, a trap set in the way, and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, namely, to those who do not truly fear Him.

— Although Isaiah 8:14 refers to “both houses of Israel” or the “two houses of Israel” it implies the two houses of Jacob, the full twelve tribes. But more often the names of the two houses are seperated, namely the 10-tribes “house of Israel” and the 2-tribes “house of Judah.”

¹⁵ And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken, and be snared and be taken.” — and many among them, all those who persist in their enmity toward the Lord, shall stumble, by their own fault, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken; and so die in captivity for their sins and even to perish eternally. The allusion is to birds being taken in a snare or trap or with bird lime and therein or thereby held and detained.

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. — bind up the testimony, so the Lord says to Immanuel, the Messiah, or directly to Isaiah, seal the Law among My disciples, so that the Word of the Lord is sealed and kept safe through the power of the Savior exerted through the Gospel message; which is the testimony from the Son of God.

¹⁷ And I will wait upon the Lord, who hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. — and Isaiah will wait upon the Lord, so Immanuel or the prophet calls out in cheerful confidence, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, by rejecting the great mass of unbelievers among the people, and Isaiah will look for Him, trusting in the riches of His mercy, in the certainty of the salvation of His chosen people.

¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in Mount Zion. — behold, the Messiah and the children whom the Lord hath given Him, all those who have accepted the Don of God in true faith, who belong to the elect of the Lord, are for signs and for wonders in Israel, placed before the eyes of all men of the whole world, as a remarkable evidence of God’s love;

— from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion; the Son and Mediator, Yeshua, through His Word, as proclaimed by the mouth of His servants, gains those whom the Father has given Him and will, on the Last Day, present this entire host to the Father in the temple of heaven. Cf Hebrews 2:13. We are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. The prophet now adds a strong warning against necromancy and spiritism.

¹⁹ And when they shall say unto you, “Seek unto those who have familiar spirits and wizards, who peep and who mutter,” should not a people seek unto their God? For the living, to the dead? — and when the unbelieving people shall say unto you, in endeavoring to coax the faithful away from the truth of the revealed Word, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, those asserting that they possess the ability of interviewing departed souls;

— and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, that is, to those given to sorcery and the magic world, said of the murmuring noises made in imitation of the shades in the realm of death and of the whispering of magical formulas which they claimed to have received from disembodied spirits, just as the modern tribe of spiritists does: should not a people;

— so the Lord indignantly asks, seek unto their God? turning to Him for counsel and assistance in every emergency in life, for the living to the dead? How can men be so foolish as to seek help from the dead? as the spiritists insist that they are quoting the spirits of the departed. Over against this blasphemous foolishness the Lord places His urgent summons:

²⁰ To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. — to the Law and to the testimony! Turn to the Word and the promises of the Lord alone; search the Scriptures, trust in His Message, in the glorious assurance of salvation contained therein; make the clear exposition of His Word the one guide of your lives!

— if they, the unbelieving majority, speak not according to this word, if they do not join in this call and invitation nor heed its summons, it is because there is no light in them, of the punishment that should be inflicted on the Jews for their neglect of the prophecies of the Old Testament and their rejection of the Messiah.

²¹ And they shall pass through it sorely beset and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God, and look upward; — and they, the unbelievers, shall pass through it, walking about blindly in the land, hardly bestead, oppressed both from within and without, and hungry, being hungry often and earnestly desirous of the coming of their vainly expected Messiah, as a Saviour to them; in the very depths of misery because they couldn’t find him; 

— and it shall come to pass that when these unbelievers shall be hungry, in the midst of tribulation besetting them on every hand, they shall fret themselves, be filled with a helpless rage, and curse their King and their God, blaspheming the Lord and His Son, the true Messiah, who is the King of Israel, and God manifest in the flesh; whom the unbelieving Jews called accursed and blasphemed.

²² and they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness. — and those people in distress, upwards and downwards, they shall look unto the earth, seeking alleviation and deliverance from their affliction, and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, adversity and miseries of all kinds, not a ray of relief and salvation penetrating the night of their suffering; 

— and these unbelievers shall be driven to darkness, cast out into utter darkness. Such is the punishment of God upon the wicked, upon those who reject the Messiah, even here on earth; how much more terrible, then, will the condemnation of eternity be into which the present punishment will merge!

Posted in Isaiah

Answering his call, Isaiah said, “Here I am; send me” (Isaiah 6:8); we learn that this that this was the beginning of his mission, and this prophecy was written later. Hence understanding the timing of the message of the wordings in Isaiah are more subjective than either the books of Ezekiel or Revelation.

Isaiah 5

¹ Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard: my Well-beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. — now will Prophet Isaiah sing to his Well-beloved a song of his Beloved God the Father, singing to Yehovah, the Lord of hosts, expressing the thoughts of the Lord with all his heart and soul,

— touching His vineyard, that of His Kingdom at the time of the prophet. His Well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, literally, “on the horn, or summit, of a son of oil,” the vineyard being situated on a hill and having most fertile soil;

— the Targum, whose origin in the Aramaic language could be traced to Ezra, paraphrases the words thus, “the prophet said, I will sing now to Israel, who is like unto a vineyard, the seed of Abraham, my beloved, a song of my beloved, concerning his vineyard. My people, my beloved Israel, I gave to them an inheritance in a high mountain, in a fat land.”

² And He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein. And He looked for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. — and He fenced it, rather, spaded or hoed it thoroughly, and gathered out the stones thereof, which hindered the proper cultivation of the ground, and planted it with the choicest vine, a very fine Oriental variety of grape, called sorek, and built a tower in the midst of it, this being interpreted as a watchtower; but the Targum says, “and I built my sanctuary in the midst of them:”

— and also made a winepress therein, the lower trough into which the grape-juice flowed from the winepress proper; and He looked that it should bring forth grapes, the fruit of the excellent vine which He had planted there, but it brought forth wild grapes: bad grapes; corrupt, rotten, stinking ones, the sour product of the wild vine or of a similar plant;

— that is, God had planted the vineyard indeed which was composed of Israel and Judah; He would now remove all of the protection from his people and cause them to be overrun and be destroyed. 

³ “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard. — and now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, to whom the prophet is specifically addressing himself, appealing to them to be judges in this difficult situation, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard, making their decision on the basis of the evidences presented to them, which were visible to even the casual onlooker.

⁴ What could have been done more to My vineyard than I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to bring forth good grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? — what could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it? The Targum says, “what good have I said to do more to my people, which I have not done to them? and what is this I have said, that they should do good works, and they have done evil works?”

— wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes? Surely if the Lord now abandoned this vineyard, the people themselves must admit that they had fully deserved such treatment, that they had but themselves to blame for their destruction, as the Lord states.

⁵ “And now, I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. — and now God will tell you what He will do to His vineyard, the Judge Himself announcing judgement and punishment which He had decided upon:

— I will take away the hedge thereof, one of thorns and briers being the usual protection of vineyards of the nation, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, as a second means of keeping out marauders, and it shall be trodden down, the emphatic statement of the original being “for a treading down”

⁶ And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” — and God will lay it waste, for a complete ruin; it shall not be pruned, to remove the superfluous shoots, nor digged, to loosen the ground for the admission of air to the roots;

— but there shall come up briers and thorns, making the growth of vines of the right and welcome kind impossible; God will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it; hence the land would turn into a desert.

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant. And He looked for judgment, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. — for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant, literally, “the plant of His pleasure” and He looked for justice and judgement would be executed in the land in all respects; that the people would do what is right and good;

— but behold oppression resulted, the infringement of rights by graft and other forms of corruption and wickedness; for righteousness, that is, an outward dealing according to the demands of a righteous conduct, but behold a cry, namely, that of the people who suffer wrong and duffered for such oppression.

⁸ Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! — woe unto them that join house to house, the insatiable desire of men to own more and more is the direct and certain result of a gross materialism in the heart of men, in a greed for wealth which is never satisfied, that lay field to field, their covetousness causing them to add one piece of property to another;

— till there be no place, no room for any one else, that they, literally, “ye” for the prophet here turns directly to the Jews, may be placed alone in the midst of the earth, thus violating the statutes both concerning the inheritance of real estate and the year of jubilee, Numbers 27:9-11; Leviticus 25:10-13.

⁹ In mine ears said the Lord of hosts: “In truth many houses shall be desolate, even the great and fair, without inhabitant. — in mine ears said the Lord of hosts, the cry of the sins of covetousness and ambition before mentioned;  the great Ruler of the universe Himself making it known to His prophet, 

— of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, the beautiful homes of the rich, such as the houses of the king, of the princes, and nobles, judges, counsellors, without inhabitant, as a punishment upon their greed.

¹⁰ Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” — yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one hath, for their fields shall be barren and unfruitful; and the seed of an homer, about eight bushels, shall yield an ephah; the Targum makes this barrenness to be the punishment of their sin, in not paying tithes paraphrasing the words thus, “for because of the sin of not giving tithes, the place of ten acres of vineyard shall produce one bath.”

¹¹ Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may pursue strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! — woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow, eagerly pursue, strong drink, a kind of brandy prepared from dates, apples, pomegranates, honey, and barley; 

— that continue until night, protracting their session of excessive indulgence until the cool of the evening and beyond, till wine inflame them, putting them into a condition where they are ready for all the works of darkness. Note that the moderate use of even intoxicating beverages is not in itself condemned, but every form of excess, as further description shows.

¹² And the harp and the viol, and the taboret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands. — and the harp, or zither and the viol, a guitar-like instrument, the tabret, the tambourine and pipe, a kind of flute and wine are in their feasts, so that they lived jovially and merrily, of these their banquets consist, this is all they have in mind in planning and executing their drinking-bouts; 

— but they regard not the work of the Lord, meaning the work of the law as the Targum says; they were deaf to the message of Yehovah the Almighty in the law, in nature, in history, especially in the preaching of His prophets, neither consider the operation of His hands, in preparing the punishment of all unrighteousness and wickedness for all the guilty.

¹³ Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. — therefore My people, as the Lord still affectionately calls them, are gone into captivity, the visitation of the Assyrian captivity for the house of Israel being pictured as already taken place, because they have no knowledge, or as some render it, “because they knew not the Lord” not only it caught them unaware but because they had hardened their hearts against all understanding;

— and their honorable men are famished, literally, “become starvelings,” people suffering hunger, and their multitude dried up with thirst, a vivid description of Israel as it was driven into exile. Such is ever the consequence when the greed and luxury-craving people of this world deliberately exclude the understanding of spiritual things from their hearts.

¹⁴ Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth beyond measure; and their glory and their multitude and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. — therefore hell, that is, the grave, to receive the dead who die from famine and thirst; signifying that the number of the dead would be so great, that the common burying places would not be sufficient to hold them hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure, to receive the great number of victims; 

— and their glory, the splendor of their wickedness and their multitude and their pomp, the tumult and noise of their drunken shouting, and he that rejoiceth, those finding their enjoyment in the excesses of this world shall descend into it. Then all the laughter and shouting of the children of this world will be changed to cries of woe, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹⁵ And the lowly man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. — and the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, laid low in the dust, and be equal to the poor; for in the grave, princes and peasants are alike; men of every rank and station being included in the Lord’s condemnation, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled, so that they are no longer lifted up in pride.

¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and God who is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. — but the Lord of hosts, the Father, He who exerts unlimited authority over the world and all its fortunes, shall be exalted in judgement, the very overthrow of the wicked redounding to His glory, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness, give evidence of His holiness in exercising justice upon the ungodly.

¹⁷ Then shall the lambs feed according to their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. — then shall the lambs feed after their manner, that is, the people of God, the disciples of Christ, as on their usual pasturage, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat, the nomad tribes of the desert again occupying the land which had been held by similar people in ancient days. Thus the land of Canaan would become a monument of God’s justice.

¹⁸ Woe unto them that draw along iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope; — woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, their first excuses to themselves being like hair-strings, but their increasing callousness finally causing them boldly to draw their guilt to them as with heavy cords;

— and sin, as it were, with a cart-rope, they hitch it to them like draft-horses dragging a heavy wagon, laying themselves to the traces with all their might, utterly ignoring the thought of a day of vengeance; thus the Targum interprets it of such that begin with lesser sins, and increase to more ungodliness; paraphrasing it thus, “woe to them that begin to sin a little, and they go on and increase until that they are strong, and “their” sins “are” as a cart rope”

¹⁹ who say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it.” — that say, Let Him make speed and hasten His work that we may see it, that is, the threatened retribution, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it! 

— their blasphemous mockery will surely draw down upon them the punishment of the Lord. And so far as the mockers of our day are concerned, the time will come when they, overcome with terror at the revelation of God’s judgement upon them, will call upon the mountains to fall upon them and to the hills to cover them.

²⁰ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that count darkness as light, and light as darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! — woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, or that call evil men good, and good men evil; thus reversing all principles of true morality; that is, that excuse the one and reproach the other; that put darkness for light and light for darkness, particularly in palliating the wickedness of sin, in representing avarice, luxury, the lust of the flesh as harmless; and pervert the order which God hath appointed;

— it started with the ten tribes preferring the worship at Dan and Bethel, before that at Jerusalem; and today, they prefer worshipping (a) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; and (b) the palm tree, Mithra, the Persian Sun-god now proliferates during Christmas; with decorated with lights; in preference to God’s commandments in their celebration of the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, which are dismissed as legalism (more at the end);

— that put bitter for sweet, by condemning the godly, the children of God as enemies of mankind, and sweet for bitter, by glossing over transgression and thus leading men into further destruction.

²¹ Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! — woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, arrogant in their self-conceit, prudent in their own sight, such people being beyond the necessity of learning, their lack of humility causing them to reject all instruction that is brought to their notice, especially the message from the prophets of the Lord of hosts.

²² Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink, — woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink, champions of dissolute living, selling justice in order to obtain the means to indulge in the service of mammon and luxury; the Targum interprets it, “men of riches” one who can afford to drink wine and strong drink; which carries the sense not to the strength of their bodies, but of their purses;

²³ who justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! — speaking of judges and civil magistrates, which justify the wicked for reward, openly seeking bribes and in fulfilling the promises made on the strength of such gifts, take away the righteousness of the righteous from him, deciding against him in court and thus frustrating the ends of justice; note that all the sins which are here condemned with such harsh words are found in our day and age as in the days of Isaiah.

²⁴ Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. — therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, in a sudden and thorough destruction, so their root, the supposed firm hold of these transgressors, shall be as rottenness, moldy and decayed;

— and their blossom, their outward prosperous appearance, shall go up as dust, flying away like small particles, because they have cast away the Law of the Lord of hosts, in a deliberate, blasphemous rejection, and despised the Word of the Holy One in Israel as in Leviticus 23 to keep His commandment to celebrate the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.

²⁵ Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people, and He hath stretched forth His hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. — therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people, and He hath stretched forth His hand against them and hath smitten them, the scene again being painted before the eyes of the people, in order to urge them to repentance; 

— and the hills did tremble, under the blow delivered bythe Almighty as from a mighty earthquake, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets, lying there as dung, even as it had happened before, II Chronicles 28:6. For all this, although the punishment of the Lord has repeatedly gone forth, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. So great was the apostasy in Israel cerebrating Astarte and Mithra that the wrath of the Lord was not yet appeased, especially since the nation showed no signs of any repentance; it will be a shaking of every nation before the wrath of God’s Judgement.

²⁶ And He will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly. — and He, the Lord of hosts in delivering the last great blow, will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, as a signal for them to attack and punish Israel;

— and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth, the figure being taken from the work of the bee-keeper, who coaxes the bees from their hives by a hissing sound; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly, most eager to carry out the Lord’s will upon the house of Israel, like Shalmaneser and Nebuchadnezzar did as the Lord’s horsewhips; as the Targum paraphrases it, “and behold, a king with his army shall come swiftly, as light clouds.”

²⁷ None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken; — none shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, to retard their movements; they should make such haste, they should not stumble at any thing by the way, nor rush one against another,

— nor the latchet of their shoes be broken, all this being descriptive of their tireless activity, their unwearied zeal, and their readiness for battle;

²⁸ whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. — whose arrows are sharp and all their bows bent, ready to shoot their arrows upon any occasionready to send the arrows to their mark; 

— their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, a most important attribute for a campaign of war carried to such distances, and their wheels like a whirlwind, for their rolling resembled the sound of an advancing tempest; the Targum says, “and his wheels swift as a tempest.”

²⁹ Their roaring shall be like a lion; they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. — their roaring shall be like a lion, a fearful battle-cry, they shall roar like young lions, eager for their prey; 

— yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, Israel becoming an easy victim, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it, no one being strong enough to come to Israel’s aid in this emergency laid upon it by the Lord.

³⁰ And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. — and in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea, the surf breaking on the precipitous shore with a fearful thunder; 

— and if one look unto the land, seeking a firm foothold, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof, literally, “darkness distress and light night in the clouds of heaven above,” that is, tribulation and relief would change off quickly in the fate of Israel; but the final result would be the blackest night, shutting out all light. That, in brief, is the outline of Israel’s history until the exile, not only the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar, but that of the Romans in the year 70 AD as well.

~~~

Parallel Scriptures in Malachi 2:

³ Behold, I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. — even the dung of your solemn feasts, that of the excesses of such pagan feasts (1) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; Jeremiah 7 and Jeremiah 44; (2) Mithra, the sun-god, the palm tree, now proliferates during Christmas; with decorated with lights, tinsel, red and green ribbon, poinsettias and other crowning glory; Jeremiah 10:3-5;

— (3) heavenly bodies, especially the Sun, hence professing Christians have shifted the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday by outlawing the keeping of the Sabbath. — thus saith the Lord: “Learn not the way of the heathens. . .” Jeremiah 10:2; His wrath and subsequent judgement of throwing dungs onto our faces is the central theme of Jeremiah’s message against idolatrous worship!

— and one shall take you away with it, treating them as though they were themselves dung, to be thrown out in disgraceful heaps; with the dung spread upon them; they looking like a heap of dung, being covered with it, and had in no more account than that;

— the Targum says, “I will make manifest the shame of your sins upon your faces; and will cause to cease the magnificence of your feasts.”

Isaiah 6

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. — in the year 758 BC when King Uzziah died, that is, in the last year of this king’s successful reign, II Kings 15:1-7; II Chronicles 26, saiahI saw the Lord, the Almighty, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, the prophetic vision, not face to face, beyond the range of the normal ability of human senses, permitting the prophet to see the revelation of God,

— for God dwells in an inaccessible light, in a manner which uncovered the divine glory to his inner mind, and his train (the “train” is the skirts, borders, or lower parts of the garments) filled the Temple, that is, His kingly robe with its majestic train, fitting emblem of the divine glory, covered and filled the heavenly Sanctuary; the Targum says, “and the temple was filled with the splendour of his glory.”

² Above it stood the seraphims; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. — above the temple stood the seraphim, heavenly spirits of the highest rank, ministers of the Lord serving as guardians of the throne. Each one had six wings, in accordance with their nature as heavenly beings; 

— with twain he covered his face, for even the seraphim cannot endure the sight of the essential holiness of God, and with twain he covered his feet, for even the angels, with a proper feeling of humility and modesty, prefer to keep their forms covered before the eyes of the Most Holy One, and with twain he did fly, floating about the throne of the Lord.

³ And one cried unto another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” — and one cried unto another, in a wonderful antiphonal chorus, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, thrice holy not only on account of the supreme excellence of His essential holiness, but false shepherds had taken the opportunity to propagate the false doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead; 

— the whole earth is full of His glory, literally, “filling the whole earth is His glory” for all men on earth will see the revelation of His divine majesty, all His works, in creation, redemption, sanctification, will serve to magnify Him as the supreme and only God. Cf Revelation 4:8.

⁴ And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. — and the posts of the door of the temple, the foundations of the sills, or thresholds, the heavenly temple with its portals down to the lowest foundation;

— moved at the voice of him that cried, the powerful sound of the entire chorus, and the temple was filled with smoke, as from the incense of all the prayers of the saints, uniting with the angels above to give praise and adoration to the great Lord of heaven, Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4.

⁵ Then said I, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” — then said Isaiah, overcome with awe and terror at the tremendous impressiveness of the scene, Woe is me! for I am undone, lost, threatened with death and destruction, 

— because I am a man of unclean lips, the feeling of his own sinfulness coming over him all the more strongly in view of the perfect holiness which he had just seen, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, descendant and member of a generation of sinners; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, between whom and man is not only the gulf separating the Creator from His creatures, but the greater abyss between the holy God and the world of sinners. Cf Exodus 33:20.

⁶ Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. — then flew one of the seraphim unto Isaiah, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, the altar of incense evidently being referred to;

⁷ And he laid it upon my mouth and said, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” — and he laid it upon Isaiah’s mouth, he caused the glowing coal to come into contact with the prophet’s lips, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged, which was abominable in his sight; a burden to him, and the cause of his distress; even all his iniquity, all atoned for;

— the act of the angel evidently had a symbolical meaning, first of all with reference to the atonement made in and through the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the work of redemption carried out in accordance with God’s counsel. Not only, however, is the prophet, sinful man as he was, assured of the redemption and grace of God, but the Lord also imparts special strength to him and fits him to be the instrument of His inspiration.

⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then said I, “Here am I. Send me!” — also Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, of the All-powerful, the great Ruler of the universe, saying, Whom shall I send? the call being for volunteers to proclaim the atonement set forth in the vision just vouchsafed the prophet. 

— And who will go for Us? Then Isaiah said, ‘Here am I; send me.’ The prophet, in the spirit of voluntary service wrought by the Lord, a principal requisite for the proper and effective ministry of the Word, is ready to undertake the task.

⁹ And He said, “Go, and tell this people: “‘Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.’ — and God said, Go and tell your people, to which He no longer refers as His people, but as strangers, in the third person, Hear ye indeed, constantly within reach of the Word of God, but understand not; the great works of God by which He reveals Himself to mankind, but they perceive not, not really grasping their significance nor applying them to their own condition.

¹⁰ Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed.” — make the heart of this people fat, insensitive to impressions for good, so that feeling, reason, and will become callous, cold or heartless, and make their ears heavy, the hearing of the mind becoming impaired beyond the possibility of understanding;

— and shut their eyes, namely, those of the spirit, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, that is, be converted, and be healed. Note that the members or organs spoken of are given in inverted order in the second part of the sentence, to increase its impressiveness. It is the judicial hardening, the judgement of obduration, which is here described; it is not that God works obduration, but He surrenders the godless to their evil intent; He withdraws from their hearts with His spirit of understanding.

¹¹ Then said I, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, — then Isaiah asked, Lord, how long? that is, how long would this hardening continue? 

— and the Lord answered, Until the cities (Detroits, Chicago, New York, London, Paris) be wasted, altogether desolate, without inhabitant, and the houses without man, without a protector, and the land be utterly desolate, literally, “made desolate a desert,”

¹² and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. — and the Lord have removed men far away; not to nearby Babylon, but to the ends of the earth, into the most distant countries, by having them led away into exile, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land; and dispersing them among several nations of the world.

¹³ “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and shall be eaten, as a teil tree and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” — but yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and shall be eaten, that is, it shall be burnt again; it was burnt a first time by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and his army, Jeremiah 52:13 and a second time by Titus Vespasian, to which this prophecy refers; “And if there is yet in it a tenth, it will once more become subject to devouring,”

— and as an oak, whose substance is in them, a mere stump being left, when they cast their leaves, when they are felled, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof, the stump or stem. Thus the obduration upon Israel would continue until the last wrath would come upon Israel, resulting in its destruction; the “holy seed” understand the Messiah; and yet, after the trunk would be hewn down, the stump which remained would bring forth new shoots, a people, the Kingdom of God, consecrated to God. As in Israel, so in all the nations of the world the Lord has His holy seed, people who by His grace accept the Gospel and are saved.

Posted in Isaiah

The whole prophecy of Isaiah starts with Judah and Jerusalem but soon it includes many prophecies concerning the house of Israel and other nations and cities.

Isaiah 3

¹ For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole store of bread and the whole store of water, — a famine is coming as the Lord takes away the whole store of bread and the whole store of water from Jerusalem and from Judah;

² the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the prudent and the ancient, — also, the Lord takes away men fit to be generals of armies; removed by death before this time, including other staff: wise men, mighty men and honourable men;

³ the captain of fifty and the honorable man, and the counselor and the skilled artificer and the eloquent orator. — again, more staff and counselors taken away; an eloquent orator is one skilful in enchanting serpents, even then these are taken away; 

⁴ “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. — and only given children and babes to be our leaders, commentators, newsreaders, etc; a reference to the incompetence, weakness and ignorance of the people that will be elevated to places of authority as the decline of Israel continues.

⁵ And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another and everyone by his neighbour; the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honorable.” — the arrogant rejection of authority and the utter disregard of God’s law concerning respect for the aged; all respect for the God-given rights of others having vanished; the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, without the slightest regard for his superiors, 

— and the base against the honorable, not only by ignoring all distinction of rank, but by setting aside the government instituted by God. In other words, tyranny is followed by mob-rule, and this, in turn, by anarchy so that everything is in a turmoil, every semblance of governmental control has vanished;

⁶ When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, “Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand,” — one of the same kindred and family; or one of their brethren, not one that is most qualified, that might rule over them — nepotism and corruption — thou hast clothing, having saved at least a decent suit of clothes in the general overthrow, be thou our ruler and let this ruin;

⁷ in that day he shall swear, saying, “I will not be a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: Make me not a ruler of the people!” — in that day shall he refusing to take an obligation upon responsibilities, swear, saying, calling out loudly in protest, I will not be an healer, in trying to save the wreck;

— make me not a ruler of the people; this shows that the state of the nation must be very bad indeed, that men, who are naturally ambitious of power and honour, should refuse government when offered to them; the Targum says, “I am not fit to be a head or governor.”

⁸ For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. — for Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, outward and inward decay is evident, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, their apostasy and blasphemy have reached the limit, to provoke the eyes of His glory, the glorious appearance of His holy essence, for they challenge the wrath of the Lord by deliberately planning and executing evil.

⁹ The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves. — for they have rewarded evil unto themselves, they are bound to bring punishment upon themselves. With a few strokes the prophet draws a picture of moral filth, which fills the reader with loathing of such depths of wickedness.

¹⁰ Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruits of their doings. — say ye to the righteous, to the few who are still found in the midst of the general decay, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings, their good works, the fruit of their faith, do follow them.

¹¹ Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. — woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him, his will be a lamentable fate; for the reward of his hands, that which he earned by his evil deeds, shall be given him. The godless will have no one to blame but themselves when everlasting destruction comes upon them.

¹² As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them! O My people, they that lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. — children, incompetent and ruthless youngsters are their oppressors, and women, subject to whims and moods, rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, the leaders becoming misleading, and destroy the way of thy paths, devouring it by their false, erroneous preaching, so that the way of divine truth is no longer visible.

¹³ The Lord standeth up to plead and standeth to judge the people. — the Lord stands up to plead, to take up the case of the world, and stands to judge the people and nations of the world, to convict them of their wickedness.

¹⁴ The Lord will enter into judgement with the elders of His people and the princes thereof: “For ye have eaten up the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your houses. — the Lord will enter into judgement with the ancients of His people, who were supposed to be their leaders, and the princes thereof, to whose guidance He had entrusted Israel; for ye have eaten up the vineyard, crushing the Kingdom of God; the spoil of the poor, of whom the Kingdom largely consists, is in your houses, due to the persecution of the rulers.

¹⁵ What mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces and grind the faces of the poor?” saith the Lord God of hosts. — what mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, crushing them with the most severe tyranny, and grind the faces of the poor in trampling them under foot, saith the Lord God of hosts;

— that is a special sign of the time preceding the Last Days: oppression and persecution of the Kingdom of God and for this the Lord will punish the wicked in full measure. However, it is not only the princes and rulers of the people who have brought God’s judgement upon themselves, but also the women of the land.

¹⁶ Moreover the Lord saith: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet, — the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched-forth necks, proudly thrown back, and wanton eyes, winking in feigned innocence;

— but with hidden invitation, walking and mincing, with affected, tripping steps, as they go and making a tinkling with their feet, the ankle-chains, which brought about the mincing steps, also producing a delicate ringing,

¹⁷ therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their secret parts.” — the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, where long hair now is decorated handsomely, will be found nothing but loathsome uncleanness, and the Lord will discover their secret parts, exposing them to shame and disgrace before the whole world.

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their hair nets and their round ornaments like the moon, — the Targum renders it, “the ornament of the shoes”; these were put about the place where the shoes were tied; and in the Talmud the word is explained by קורדיקייה, “shoes” which the gloss interprets of wooden shoes: the ornament of their clothing; as if this was the general name for the particulars that follow:

— in the form of the moon; they were no other than bracelets, necklaces or golden chains and the word in the Talmud is rendered עונקייה, “chains.”

¹⁹ the chains and the bracelets and the spangled ornaments, — the chains, the ear-pendants and the bracelets or chains worn on wrist or arm and the mufflers, fluttering veils,

²⁰ the bonnets and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands and the tablets and the earrings, — the bonnets, turban-shaped diadems, and the ornaments of the legs, the step-chains connecting the ankle-bracelets, and the head-bands, beautiful girdles, and the tablets, perfume capsules, the favorite odor being musk and the earrings, small amulets with verses of magic,

²¹ the rings and nose jewels, — the rings on their finger and nose jewels; the same with the jewels on the forehead or nose,

²² the changeable suits of apparel and the mantles and the shawls and the crisping pins, — the changeable suits of apparel, the finest street dresses and the mantles, roomy tunics with sleeves and the wimples, costly shawls, and the crisping pins, beautifully worked hand-bags or boxes,

²³ the mirrors and the fine linen, and the hoods and the veils. — looking glasses by which they dressed themselves,

²⁴ And it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there shall be stench; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of wellset hair, baldness; and instead of a sash, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. — and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell, the delicate perfume of balsam, there shall be stink and instead of a girdle a rent, nothing but a rope to hold the garments together

²⁵ Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. — thy men shall fall by the sword, the defenders of Jerusalem a prey of war and thy mighty in the war.

²⁶ And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground. — and her gates where the chief men of the city were wont to discuss the welfare of the city, shall lament and mourn, because the seats of the men are empty; and she, the daughter of Zion, the city itself, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground, a picture of desolation.

Isaiah 4

¹ And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.” — and in that day, due to the fact that many men have fallen in battle, seven women shall take hold of one man, in an unnatural denial of womanly modesty, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, not depending upon him for support; 

— only let us be called by thy name, that they might be known as his wives, to take away our reproach, for it was considered a disgrace not to be married and bear children. Such are the scenes which preceded the fall of Jerusalem as in the days of Vespasian and Titus, and similar scenes will precede the end of the world.

² In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for those who have escaped of Israel. — the Targum paraphrases the words thus, “at that time shall the Messiah of the Lord be for joy and glory.”

³ And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy — even every one who is written among the living in Jerusalem — and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remains in Jerusalem, the elect of the Lord, shall be called holy, consecrated to the Lord and serving Him in a holy life, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem, those who are appointed by God unto eternal life, Acts 13:48, whether they be of Jews or Gentiles,

⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. — when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, namely, the moral uncleanness and sinfulness which no amount of outward ornament can cover before His eyes;

— and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem, the outstanding acts of wickedness and guilt, from the midst thereof by the spirit of God rebuking the evil and destroying all wickedness by a thorough winnowing and sifting, for conversion is entirely and alone His work.

⁵ And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defense. — and the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies, wherever there are congregations of believers, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night;

— these being the vehicle and sign of the merciful presence of Jehovah in the midst of His people; for upon all the glory, in every place of glory where believers are assembled in His name, shall be a defense, a covering, or canopy, the Lord Himself, as the King of Grace, having His throne in every congregation and causing it, by the gifts of His mercy, to be a glory, a place where His glory shines forth.

⁶ And there shall be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain. — and there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, the Messiah Himself dwelling in their midst;

— and for a place of refuge and for a refuge where one may hide in safety from storm and from rain; for the Messiah is the Protector of His Kingdom against the manifold dangers with which it is surrounded. In this way the Branch of the Lord serves for glory to His elect, and the believers cheerfully trust themselves to His keeping.

Posted in Isaiah

Isaiah stands first of all the major prophets according to the Jewish chronology, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the twelve. Though the order of the prophets, Isaiah appeared during the reign of Hezekiah and therefore was well before Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Here in this book of Isaiah, the order of the chapters is no indication of the chronological order.

The Scriptures are often shrouded in cryptic languages; and as usual a prophecy of Isaiah will start with the house of Judah and Jerusalem then spread to the house of Israel and soon it includes many prophecies concerning other nations surrounding the region. Our challenge is to decrypt them.

Isaiah 1

¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. — Rabbi Rashi: we have a tradition from our ancestors that Amoz and Amaziah, king of Judah, were brothers;

— we learn from Isaiah 6:8 where he said, “Here I am; send me” that this was the beginning of his mission, and this prophecy in chapter 1 and other were written afterwards. Hence the order of the chapters is no indication of the chronological order in this book of Isaiah;

— the whole prophecy of Isaiah starts with Judah and Jerusalem but soon it includes many prophecies concerning the house of Israel and other nations and cities.

² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord hath spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. — God have nourished and brought up children; meaning the children of Israel; “my people, the house of Israel, whom I have called children,”

— and they have rebelled against their Lord and King; for the house of Israel were under a theocracy; God, who was their Father, was their King, and they rebelled against him by breaking his laws, which rebellion is aggravated by its being not only of subjects against their king, but of children against their father; the law concerning a rebellious son, see in Deuteronomy 21:18;

— Q: is Isiah the son of Amoz born of the northern house of Israel or of the southern house of Judah?

³ The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.” — the ox knoweth his owner… knows his voice when he calls him; and follows him where he leads him, whether to plough in the field or feed in the meadows;

— and the ass his masters crib, or “manger” where he is fed and to which he goes when he wants food and at the usual times; but the house of Israel doth not know his Maker and Owner, his King, Lord, and Master, his Father, Saviour, and Redeemer; he does not own and acknowledge his Son, but rejects him; see John 1:10;

— the number of different words used to describe the sins of Israel are rebellion (Isaiah 1:2), ignorance, lack of consideration (Isaiah 1:3), sin, iniquity, evil-doing, corruption, forsaking God, estrangement from God, backsliding (Isaiah 1:4), revolt, transgression, disobedience, sickness, (Isaiah 1:5) and unsoundness (Isaiah 1:6).

⁴ Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they have gone away backward. — a seed of evil doers; this is said both of their fathers and of themselves; they were planted the right seed but they had degenerated, becoming a wicked generation;

— they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger; by their numerous sins, both of omission and commission;

— as a result the wounds and bruises of Israel mentioned here should not be viewed as resulting from the hostile attacks of her enemies but as the result of the stripes of punishment laid upon Israel by the hand of God.

⁵ Why should ye be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. — ye revolt more and more or apostatize more and more; and grow more obdurate and resolute in it.

⁶ From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. — from the sole of the foot even unto the head…. every member of the body politic was afflicted in one way or another or sadly infected with the disease of sin; see Psalms 28:3;

— the Targum, whose origin in the Aramaic language could be traced to Ezra, says, “from the rest of the people, even unto the princes, there is none among them who is perfect in my fear.”

⁷ Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. — this must be speaking of the endtime; and second, was applying the issues or strangers and migrants more to the house of Israel than to the house of Judah;

— if “your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire” then it is worthwhile to consider some other parallel Scriptures elsewhere; and one is found in Ezekiel:

So who are the strangers that will desolate the house of Israel, identified here as the United States? Many believe Russia was and some still believe it is the main threat of the United States. Others, like warmonger John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, give incredible speeches around the world saying China is the main enemy.

And Mearsheimer brilliantly emphasizes the United States are protected by fish to the left and fish to the right, but foolishly negates to address America’s broken border in the South; and that the Scriptures say that America’s main “enemy” comes from the unprotected and porous South:

Ezekiel 20:45 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
⁴⁶ “Son of man, set thy face toward the South, and drop thy word toward the South, and prophesy against the forest of the Southland.
⁴⁷ And say to the forest of the South: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree. The flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the South to the North shall be burned therein.
⁴⁸ And all flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.’”
⁴⁹ Then said I, “Ah, Lord God! They say of me, ‘Doth he not speak parables?’”
Ezekiel 21:1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
² “Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel;
³ and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My Sword out of his sheath and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My Sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the South to the North,
⁵ that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth My Sword out of his sheath. It shall not return any more.’ (Ezekiel 20:45-21:5)

The Scriptures above are shrouded in cryptic languages and so the Qs are: how would such scenarios be played out? The current Russia/Ukraine and China/Taiwan arises are just two major distractions, but more importantly, who are these enemies the Prophet Ezekiel identifies coming from the SOUTH, and how would God says He will kindle a fire and “all the remnant of the people shall despoil thee?”

One Report by McKinsey says of the 60 millions Latinos in the US that had migrated from the South; they often live in ‘deserts’ where adequate housing, groceries are hard to find. “Nearly 9 in 10 of the Latino residents in such communities lived in five states: California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas.”

McKinsey: Latinos are projected to make up 22.4 percent of the US labor force by 2030 and more than 30 percent by 2060 (Latinos population to 111.2 million by ’60); is this analysis wrong? Am I mistaken? Do feel free to present your opinion; thanks.

⁸ And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a shed in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. — this is speaking of the house of Judah, a much small house, compares to the 10-tribes house of Israel, just as a small cottage left in the vineyard as Isaiah saw it.

⁹ Unless the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. — some in the north of the house of Israel who had escaped the general desolation, came to the south of the house of Judah and found refuge and protection behind the walls of Jerusalem, which had yet to fall.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah: — this is a warning of what they will be like if they continue with the rebellion and abominations as Sodom and Gomorrah; unless repented off, they would face the same fire and brimstone.

¹¹ “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?” saith the Lord. “I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs or of hegoats. — more important is their altitude, their gratitude, their humanity, their repentance if any, which is well below expectation.

¹² When you come to appear before Me, who hath required this from your hand, to tread My courts? — the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem is the highest court which the Most High has set on this earth;

— and the tenets of the Sanhedrin in setting the calendar were ignored; king Jeroboam took the law upon himself and worshipped on the Feast days a month later;

— and he established Bethel and Dan as places to offer sacrifice, against God’s expressed will to be in Jerusalem;

— for his rebellion, Jeroboam was greatly punished: his dynasty would end badly. “His family was eventually wiped out.”

¹³ Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me. The new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. — Jeroboam’s new moon and sabbaths were an abomination to God; it was outright malicious and rebellious, hence God couldn’t endure and so send them, the house of Israel, off into captivity;

— these assemblies called were the holy convocations on the seventh day Sabbath, at the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, at the blowing of the Trumpets, on the day of Atonement and Tabernacles: Leviticus 23. 

¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; they are a trouble unto Me, I am weary of bearing them. — again, this new moon and their appointed feasts are repeated to show how God hates them;

— God was and is referring to the house of Israel; their appointed feasts a month late, and at Dan and Bethel, instead of in Jerusalem, where he ordains it to be the holy place;

— and they maliciously change the day of worship from Sabbaths to Sundays.

¹⁵ And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. — and even when they spread forth their hands in a gesture which is a caricature of true prayer, God would hide his face from them, for they were full of rebellions, and their hands are full of violence and injustice before God.

¹⁶ Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes. Cease to do evil, — put away the evil of their doings from before God; the exhortation is not barely to put away their doings, but the evil of them, and that not from themselves, but from the eyes of God, from the eyes of his justice.

¹⁷ learn to do well. Seek judgement, relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. — learn to do well, not just mere knowing, but the doing being emphasised; seek justice, doing that which is right, relieve the oppressed, aiding them in obtaining justice;

— plead for the orphans, widows and fatherless, and those deprived of their any protection; in today’s world, it should include the homeless and the refugees.

¹⁸ “Come now, and let us reason together,” saith the Lord. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. — though your sins be as scarlet, blood-red with guilt, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, the color apparently fast and fixed beyond the possibility of fading, they shall be as wool;

— though laden with guilt, God’s people are not condemned to everlasting damnation, but are given and imputed to them perfect righteousness upon repentance.

¹⁹ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; — being obedient to his commandments and not rebel against them, they would continue with the full enjoyment and blessings of the land.

²⁰ but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. — with God’s judgement, his wrath and vengeance, the sword shall be drawn against them; 

— for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it; and he will surely make it good for the maintaining of his own honour.

²¹ How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of judgement; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. — how is the faithful city become a harlot!… the city of Jerusalem, in which were the temple, and the pure worship of God, and was in the tribe of Judah, which ruled with God, and was very faithful;

— and probably speaking of Samaria, when the ten tribes revolted, and fell in with the sin of Jeroboam it became like a treacherous wife to her husband;

— and it could be prophetic like modern cities today: New York, Chicago, London, Paris; all are filled with murderous blood.

²² Thy silver has become dross, thy wine mixed with water. — thy silver is become dross… meaning either that such persons, who had the appearance of goodness, looked like genuine silver, were now reprobate as the wicked of the earth are like dross;

— thy wine, the leaders and nobles, mixed with water, that is, the judges and rulers of the city had turned from integrity and sincerity to moral impurity.

²³ Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. — thy princes are rebellious, obstinately opposing God and His covenant, and becoming companions of thieves, thinking only of ways and means to satisfy their greed;

— everyone loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards;

— the Targum, whose origin in the Aramaic language could be traced to Ezra, paraphrases it, “everyone says to his neighbour, do me a favour in my cause, I will return ‘it’ to thee in thy cause;” and so justice is perverted.

²⁴ Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies. — therefore, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel… all these names and titles, which are expressive of the majesty, power and authority, are to give greater solemnity and weight to what follows; and to show that he is able to accomplish what he determines and threatens to do;

— I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies; thus God, speaking after the manner of men, represents himself as feeling satisfaction in executing justice upon obstinate and incorrigible offenders.

²⁵ And I will turn My hand against thee, and wholly purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin. — and I will turn My hand upon thee, namely, against Samaria, the faithless, sinful city that Jeroboam had established with the house of Israel; and purely purge away thy dross, melting it out with lye, removing the obstinate and wicked leaders; and take away all thy tin, the lead mixed with the precious metal, the ungodly in high and low places;

— and the northern house of Israel was carried away in stages during the time of Hezekiah when Isaiah was prophesying;

— and the house of Israel was forgotten, all the noise of the tin is gone, forgotten, until the endtime when God will restore them.

²⁶ I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning. Afterward thou shalt be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” — this is flashing forward into the Millennium when the seventy judges of the Sanhedrin and other counsellors will be fully restored in Jerusalem;

— and building of the Ezekiel Jerusalem; and after the Millennium, the New Jerusalem.

²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and her converts with righteousness. — Zion shall be redeemed through justice; since there will be people who practice the right kind of justice; and they shall be redeemed from their iniquities.

²⁸ And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. — and the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together…. of the beast and false prophet, of the followers of antichrist, the man of sin, all are transgressors of the law of God; these sinners will all be consumed together.

²⁹ For ye shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. — for they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired; they will be brought to shame on account of the groves where they practiced idolatry and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen where idolatry and other vices held full sway.

³⁰ For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. — for ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, dying for want of nourishment; and as a garden that hath no water, whose flowers and fruits are bound to die.

³¹ And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. — and the strong shall be as tow, that is, the well-to-do will be as a lamp-wick; and the maker of it as a spark, rather, his work as a spark, for the idol causes a consuming fire, which devours the idolaters themselves; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them;

— when the final Judgement comes and the fate of men has been decided, then the verdict of condemnation will strike the ungodly, and their worm will not die, neither will their fire be quenched, and they will be an abomination to all flesh.

Isaiah 2

¹ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: — the Targum paraphrases the words as, “the word of prophecy, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prophesied:”

² And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. — in the last days; the days when the Messiah commences;

— at the top of the mountains; on a mountain that is the head of all the mountains in the importance of mountains;

— and all nations shall stream into it; will gather and stream to it like rivers.

³ And many people shall go and say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. — and many people shall go and say… this is a prophecy of the numerous conversions among the nations in the latter day as also said in Zechariah 8:20;

— and he will teach us of his ways: that is, the Lord the God of Jacob; he is the teacher and there is none teacheth like him; and happy are they who are taught by God;

— for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; by which is meant the law, not to be mistaken as faith, of the Messiah, Isaiah 42:4 for the law; called the “word of the Lord;”

— this began to be preached first in Jerusalem and from there it went forth into the world; and in Zion, in the Kingdom of God, it is now preached and will be more fully in the latter day; and so is an encouraging reason to engage persons to go up and hear it.

⁴ And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. — and He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people; stating His decisions, performing the functions as King and Judge in governing the people under His spiritual rule; 

— for example, today we are honouring the host of heaven with a pagan-named week and a paganised monthly calendar; and more than 98.5 percent of Christians are honouring the Sun by observing Sunday worship. They have “their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the SUN toward the east; whose Godly penalty is to be “cut off” to death (Deuteronomy 17:3-5) – ’till they die’;

— and they, under the influence of the Lord’s Spirits, shall beat their swords into plowshares, the broad knives fastened to the shaft of the plow by Oriental farmers, and their spears into pruning-hooks, that is, with which they prune their vineyards;

— nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more, for under the government of the Prince of Peace, there is nothing but peace, unity, and love. It is a wonderful description of the Messianic kingdom and its beauties which is here given.

⁵ O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord. — O house of Jacob, the children of Israel, though specifically the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem being addressed above, it also includes the other 10 tribes of Israel.

⁶ For Thou hast forsaken Thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are replenished from the East, and are soothsayers like the Philistines; and they please themselves with the children of strangers. — they are filled with divination from the east; the general meaning seems to be, that their land was full of idolatrous manners from eastern nations: the Ammonites, Chaldeans and Persians, and perhaps also they had encouraged these heathen to settle among them, that they might learn their customs.

⁷ Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. — this heaping up of material wealth is contrary to divine inspiration.

⁸ Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. — their land is also full of idols; of the goddess Semirami, later transformed into the Virgin Mary, and of saints departed, whose images are set up to be worshipped in all their churches and in private houses;

— which their own fingers have made:, idols of gold, silver and brass; wood and stone.

⁹ And the lowly man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself; therefore forgive them not. — and the great man, the nobles and leaders among the people, humbleth himself, is humbled by God;

— therefore forgive them not; their sins of soothsaying, covetousness and idolatry; and such that worship the beast and his image shall not be forgiven, but drink of the wine of divine wrath and be tormented with fire for ever and ever.

¹⁰ Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty. — enter into the rock, as people hide before a cruel enemy, and hide themselves in rocks and caves of the earth in the wilderness;

— so for fear of the Lord, lest he should pour out his wrath and judgement upon them and be a consuming fire to them; for this is to be understood not of a filial reverence of God, but of a servile fear of punishment; and these words are sarcastically said, suggesting that rocks and mountains will be no protection or security for them.

¹¹ The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. — the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, every gesture indicating pride will be beaten down and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled like dust and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, standing secure in the perfection of His essence.

¹² For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up—and he shall be brought low” — here “the day of the Lord” is the same as “the Lord’s day” in Revelation 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” – it is a period (or timeframe of a single day or of many years, depending on context as each case is different) a day of God’s Judgement!

— every one that is proud and lofty and upon every one that is lifted up, the day being, as it were, kept in reserve by the Lord, to come as a surprise upon the haughty ones of His grace; and he, every proud sinner, shall be brought low in the Day of Judgement.

¹³ and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; — and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, pictures and emblems of the proud sinners.

¹⁴ and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; — high mountains and hills, to signify big countries and small ones; or to signify states and cities.

¹⁵ and upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; — high towers and fenced walls, those who excelled in ingenuity, wisdom and strength.

¹⁶ and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant sights. — those who excelled in shipping and merchandising, bringing beautiful works of art from far-away land, creating self-esteem and wealth.

¹⁷ And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, — and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, since all the objects of man’s pride will be destroyed, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, the highest and most glorious in the majesty of His essence;

— also; those atheists or followers of antichrist, who have boasted of their wisdom and knowledge, of their number, power, greatness, and authority, of their wealth and riches, and of their merits and works of supererogation; their pride will now be stained, and all their glory laid in the dust.

¹⁸ and the idols He shall utterly abolish. — literally, “they will be changed,” they will vanish away, their vanity will be apparent before all men.

¹⁹ And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. — and they, the idolaters, shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth, in cellars or cisterns dug into the ground, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth;

— or shake the earth terribly; up and down, down and up; and sideways; imagine how many will die with those rushing Fukushima waves!!!

²⁰ In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold (which he made each one for himself to worship) to the moles and to the bats, — in that day, under the influence of a repentant spirit they could have come too late, a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made for himself to worship, to the moles (a species of rodents that dig into the earth) and to the bats, into the first convenient crevice, in an effort to rid himself of their incriminating presence.

²¹ to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. — to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, his terror driving him to seek safety anywhere and everywhere, for fear of the Lord, namely, dread of the inevitable punishment, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth, to spread terror throughout the world, for His wrath will find His enemies in the most remote corners and hiding-places of the earth.

— or shake the earth terribly, again; up and down, down and up; and sideways; imagine how many will die with those rushing Fukushima waves! Nar, it would be hundred times more terrifying than those Fukushima waves!!!

²² Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he? — cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, all men are admonished not to place their trust in man, weak and powerless as he is in all that he undertakes, dependent upon a breath which quickly disappears; 

— for wherein is he to be accounted of? All human props may and will be taken away in the twinkling of an eye. It is time to trust in the Lord and not to put confidence in man, especially in view of the soon coming Day of Judgement, or the Lord’s Day, or the Day of the Lord, which will show the vanity of man’s pride and of all his accomplishments.

Posted in Isaiah